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Award winning legacies of ink

On Friday, five of Middelburg Observer's journalists will be heading to the Five Star Leriba Hotel and Spa in Centurion, for the Annual Local Media Excellence Awards.

Observer Editor, Mr Tobie van den Bergh, together with Daleen Naude, Jana Boshoff, Johan Gresse and Gerhard Rheeder, will head to Pretoria as top three national finalists in a range of categories including Journalist of the Year, best investigative reporter, best sports writer, human interest reporting, best columns, best headlines, editorial comment, hard news and local government.

The prestige FCJ awards are open to all community newspapers in South Africa, drawing together the cream of South Africa’s media crop.

OH Frewin Printers, the former commercial printing leg of the Middelburg Observer, and multiple printing award winner in its own right, is proud to be associated with the awards.

“Though the printing industry has seen a downturn, hard work remains the cornerstone of the industry, on both commercial and media platforms, and OH Frewin Printers is proud to celebrate yet another milestone with our editorial family at the Middelburg Observer,” OH Frewin Managing Director, Mr Dries Venter said on Wednesday.

Both OH Frewin Printers and the Middelburg Observer share the same lineage, by having been established by the father of community press, Mr Oscar Henry Frewin, in 1903.

After takeover by Caxton, the commercial printing works of the Middelburg Observer, reestablished itself as OH Frewin Printers, operating independently from the newspaper presses.

Today, OH Frewin is still considered one of South Africa’s leading commercial printers, with numerous Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades adorning their office walls.

Mr Venter kindly agreed to sponsor the Journalist of the Year award, namely the OH Frewin floating trophy, in celebration of its, and the Middelburg Observer’s shared 113-year heritage.

Read other awards stories here:

27th Annual Caxton Excelence Awards

Observer scoops great awards!

Daleen Journalist of the year

At Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks - never to generate the news. Happy reading!

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Tobie van den Bergh

Tobie started as a journalist in September 1975. He was appointed editor of the Middelburg Observer in 1982 where he worked until he retired in 2024. He received numerous awards, is a founding member of the Forum for Community Newspapers and has published two books about his work. Although retired, Tobie is still very much involved in community journalism.
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