South African newspaper journalism was celebrated last night, Wednesday, April 5, 2006, as the industry applauded the winners of the prestigious Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards, now in its fifth year.
Held at the Sandton Sun in Gauteng, the event, which just increases in stature every year, demonstrated appreciation of excellence in South African newspaper journalism and the stories of 2005 depicted through impressive breaking news and in-depth features, provocative commentary, captivating photographs, and innovative layouts and spreads.
"The judges thank Mondi Shanduka Newsprint and the Newspaper Association of South Africa for giving us the chance to get a sweeping view of South African journalism in the year 2005," said veteran journalist and judge Joe Thloloe in the judges' statement.
"It is a privilege for us to survey a year's worth of quality work, and there are always highlights to be found which inspire us," he noted.
The statement advised that intense debate took place over the final decisions, but that the ultimate verdicts were unanimous. "Not everyone can win. On the other hand, if you don't enter, you will never know."
Convened by Prof Guy Berger, the judging panel comprised media guru's: Thloloe, Johan de Wet, Portia Kobue, Sarah Crowe, Siphiwe Nyanda, John Dludlu and Ethel Hazelhurst.
The winners emerged out of 603 entries from 186 individuals, representing 35 newspapers around the country. Each received the sought-after Mondi Shanduka nib and a share of the R110 000 in prize money on the night.
Winners' entries will be available online at www.mg.co.za/mondi2005.
BREAKING NEWS:
Jonathan Ancer of The Star won for his eyewitness account of a mob attack on a suspected cellphone thief. Judges comment: "His writing captures the horrific incident in a compassionate and compelling way, and his account brings to life the crowd's blind anger, while at the same time reflecting the fear and helplessness of a cornered victim." The judges said that the entry was not a simple story of mob justice, but one about concern and civic duty - of calmness amid frenzy.
The runners-up are: Wisani wa ka Ngobeni, Dominic Mahlangu and Dumisane Lubisi of the Sunday Times for 'Zuma rape claim', and Jonathan Ancer for his second entry titled 'Have a good one, Dave' in The Star.
ANALYSIS, FOLLOW-UPS AND COMMENTARY:
Sithembiso Msomi of City Press took top honours in the category for analysis, follow-ups and commentary with his exploration of some of the emotive issues surrounding the future of the ANC's leadership. The judges said that the piece 'OR invoked in battle for ANC' is logically and imaginatively structured, bringing out clearly the question of who leads the ANC.
The runner-up in this category is Jeremy Gordin of The Sunday Independent for 'Shaik Saga'.
FEATURE WRITING:
The kudos in the feature writing category was jointly awarded to Beauregard Tromp of The Star and Elsabé Brits of Die Burger for articles that the judges said towered above the rest. Brits was lauded for her series, including 'Laat daar lig wees in die Karoo', which took complex subjects in medicine and science and posed them in such a way that readers could enjoy them. Tromp's entries told stories from the Great Lakes region: an intriguing and poignant Rwandan love story and a piece on the rebel Lords Resistance Army in Uganda. In the latter, it took a great deal of effort to find the characters and to build up a rapport so that they would tell their stories.
There were no runners-up in this category.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM:
Stefaans Brümmer, Wisani wa ka Ngobeni and Sam Sole of the Mail & Guardian won the category for investigative journalism with their article entitled 'Oilgate'.
The judges described their entry about how state oil money went to ANC party coffers in the 2004 elections as a 'hugely impressive body of investigative journalism'. It was a highly readable, detailed account of a complex series with multiple sources that 'flowed like a thriller'. The journalists and the Mail & Guardian showed courage and perseverance against a gagging order, and pursued a story that goes to the heart of media freedom and the public's right to know.
There were no runners-up in this category.
CREATIVE JOURNALISM:
Fred Khumalo's column on Christmas with his family won him first prize in creative journalism. The column, which appeared in the Sunday Times, was a witty slice of African life, written with flair and reflecting a universal condition.
Runner-up Maureen Isaacson impressed the judges with her 'Life as a closet Goth', as did Tanya Farber, who wrote 'Love song to a whale and other inspirations' as well as 'From Gulag survivor to Bush favourite'. Both write for The Sunday Independent.
GRAPHICAL JOURNALISM:
Anton Vermeulen of Beeld walked away with first prize in the graphical journalism category. His graphic of Schabir Shaik, 'Wonde wat nie weggaan', shows Shaik's face drawn and coloured in with the use of just one word, "skuldig" (guilty) that is used a thousand times or more. "A person just simply has to keep looking at it," said the judges.
Anthony Stidolph of The Witness was runner-up for his entries: 'Department of Home Affairs', 'They must be members of the SA observer mission', and 'Trade barrier and new Iraq'. The judges noted that this category exhibited a high quality of entries, demonstrating that South African newspapers are clearly open to give graphic artists and cartoonists the freedom to try something new.
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS:
Clinching gold in the news photographs category was Anton Hammerl for 'Mugger meets his match as woman fights back' in Saturday Star. His series of three published photographs captured fast-breaking spot news and had all the qualities of a great news photograph - dramatic, action-packed, and well-composed.
Runner-up Antoine de Ras covered the Khutsong protests in City Press and Rapport and not only captured the explosive elements of the event, but provided an evocative visual of the human scale of the protests - such as the powerful picture of a small boy sitting alone on a road strewn with leftover rocks from the riots.
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHS:
Alet Pretorius of Beeld won the feature photographs category by capturing the different emotions of Schabir Shaik in a series of images. The quality of the pictures, the lighting, and the subject's expression make the story intriguing and riveting.
There were two runners-up: James Oatway of City Press for his series called 'Train ride on the wild side' which captured the action and adrenalin, and documented dangerous and potentially fatal stunts; and Beeld's Simphiwe Nkwali for his feature series on Aids orphans, dubbed 'Thabo and Thandi', which exposed the reader to the human drama involved in their everyday struggle to survive.
PRESENTATION:
In the presentation category, Die Burger's Arlene Prinsloo took the honours for her series of entries covering the London bombings and the dismissal of deputy president Jacob Zuma. With the clever use of headlines, photos and graphics, her presentations were not only extremely readable, but also aesthetically appealing. On the day after Zuma's dismissal, she underlined her journalistic professionalism dramatically by not using any photographs on the front page. Instead of an archive or even news picture, she used a quote from President Thabo Mbeki - spread out across the breadth of the page. The judges said it was a true winner.
Andries Gouws was a runner-up with 'So het Zuma my verkrag' in Beeld. Words, images and graphics are combined in an outstanding manner.
SOUTH AFRICAN STORY OF THE YEAR:
According to the judges, they found no entries that matched up to a story particularly specific to the year 2005: 'the saga of Jacob Zuma'. "We were disappointed not to find a dispassionate look at the issue, written by journalists empathetically for their interested readers. Instead, it seemed that a cocktail of interest groups and agendas had engulfed much of the media coverage of this story," said Berger.
"The entry we did not find was: 'How Jacob Zuma changed South Africa'."
The judges, however, decided to award a journalist for her work which reflected a story of our times. Susan Winters of The Witness wins the South African Story of the Year for her tales and discoveries about human triumph through a rural Eastern Cape woman living with Aids. 'A Positive Journey' concretely dispels the myth that antiretrovirals (ARVs) are deadly, and shows that it is possible to live positively with HIV with the correct intake of ARVs and good nutrition. Presented sympathetically, with strong photos taken by the writer herself, Winters boldly tells a very moving human story. "Her editors at the The Witness should be commended for giving prominence to rural life," said the judges.
