Newspaper awards give life to industry

Jonathan Shapiro, as Zapiro, was awarded the title of Journalist of the Year at these, the fifth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards ceremony held at the Sandton Sun last night (Wednesday, April 5), hosted by the Newspaper Association of South Africa. Shapiro and the other award-winning journalists in the prestigious competition each went home with the highly sought-after Mondi Shanduka nib and a share of the R110 000 in prize money.

The awards comprise, in the main, acknowledging and rewarding excellence in newspaper journalism with cash prizes and the sought-after Mondi 'gold nib' trophy, as well as trophies for newspaper printing and production, though the Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis newspaper awards recognising newspaper excellence in all areas of disciplines - from advertising to print and production; to layout and typography and balance between the use of pictures and graphics.

The awards are also well known for their extremely caustic comments in the past on the lack of professionalism in the industry, highlighting poor journalism, as well as rewarding excellence - rather refreshing in the usually unprepossessing (read: deadly dull) round of awards cocktails and banquets in this industry: media, marketing, advertising and communications. Mainly because the main judging convenor, Prof Guy Berger of Rhodes University believes in 'telling it like it is' in his crusade to elevate the standards of journalism in Southern Africa.

Last night was no different, although Prof Berger wasn't there in person to present his speech; it was read out by the affable Joe Thloloe. The very glam Tumi Makgabo, back in SA after her stint on CNN, was MC, and tribute was paid to all the newspapers celebrating historical milestones in publishing by Peter Lynch, Mondi Shanduka MD.

In all, judging took place over two days with 603 entries from 186 individual journalists in the journalism categories, from 35 newspapers, including tabloids and community newspapers.

Journalist of the Year

Jonathan Shapiro

Zapiro was nominated for the first Journalist of the Year Award after the judges deemed his work worthy of this overall award selected out of the range of entries received. The cartoonist impressed them with his consistently high quality commentary on South African public life.

The judges described his work as trend-setting, and commented that he does not hold back in giving a local view of international stories... "his prolific output is often literally on the cutting edge, using fresh and inventive imagery rather than relying upon hackneyed visual metaphors".

"He reflects South Africa back to itself in his characteristically bold and uncompromising, but also entertaining way," said Joe Thloloe, veteran journalist and judge, adding that through his outstanding drawing, Zapiro puts us in touch with the soul of South Africa on a daily basis.

Lifetime achiever

Dave Hazelhurst

It was also a heart warming moment when veteran editor and a mentor to many who passed through The Star over the years, Dave Hazelhurst, was presented with the Mondi Shanduka Lifetime Achiever Award for 2006. He received a standing ovation.

The Lifetime Achiever Award was introduced to the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards last year, and seeks to honour men and women who have made a significant contribution towards furthering the interests of newspaper journalism over a career of at least 20 years. The late Dr Aggrey Klaaste was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achiever Award last year.

The judging panel, convened by Prof Berger, selected Hazelhurst from a number of nominations submitted by senior management and editors within the media industry, and saluted him for his lifelong service to improving South African journalism. Hazelhurst is described as one of the most creative design people in the South African newspaper arena, and as a person with 'high integrity and impeccable ethics'. Over the years, he has been an inspiration to the many writers and photographers he has mentored. In a career covering the Golden City Post, The World, the Sunday Express, the Rand Daily Mail, the Sunday Star, Drum and The Star, he resisted pressure from the apartheid police, including ex-Justice Minister Jimmy Kruger, and has also been a champion of non-racial journalism throughout his career. The judges said that Hazelhurst's dedicated work over the years has enriched South Africa with unique combinations of presentation and content. Several of his protégés have also been honoured as award winners in previous Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards. "The judges salute him for his achievements," said Berger.

Judges' comments...

Features, creativity and investigative journalism again came under fire from the judges, amid nervous titters from the audience peppered with newspaper heads and select dignitaries, including Cyril Ramaphosa, Mondi Shanduka chairman. While some entries "disproved the fact that newspaper journalism was going to the dogs..." creative newspaper journalism writing and investigative journalism continue to be weak.

And while the winning entries in each category stood out as clear winners, feature writing was described overall as "largely pedestrian"; while creative journalism was pegged as "self-indulgent and superficial"!

Judges did pay tribute to all the worthy winners, and categories singled out for high praise were graphical journalism and news photography.

A rather more diplomatic Prof Govin Reddy, commenting on the other part of the evening - the newspaper awards - made a plea for a separate community newspaper category award... "the Aggrey Klaaste Award perhaps...?" as community newspapers were not featuring as they should be in these awards, particularly since this growing sector now contained 238 independent community newspapers, or which 221 were commercially owned by the big newspaper groups (155 of those by Caxton). The Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) had also funded 50 new community newspapers through its programmes.

Reddy said many local newspaper groups, including mainstream had not kept pace with international trends where newspapers in the developed world had undergone major redesigns to keep pace with other competing media. "Too few South African papers have embarked on the modernisation path.

Fine fellows

Print Media SA also recognised three newspaper industry Fellows at the fifth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards ceremony also held last night.

The Print Media Fellowship Awards recognises individuals for their devotion and energy in furthering the interests of the newspaper and print media industry over a number of years. The annual Print Media SA Fellowship Awards is regarded as the industry's most prestigious award in recognising key-decision makers who are identified through nominations from the industry's stakeholders.

The 2006 Print Media newspaper fellows are: