The North Coast Courier has been recognised for its eye-catching design, winning Best Front Page at the 2025 AVBOB FCJ Excellence Awards.

The national awards, hosted by the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ), celebrate excellence in community journalism across South Africa.

This year’s competition attracted more than 600 entries across 17 categories, with the front page category among the most competitive with 76 entries. Newspapers were judged on three front-page submissions.

The winners were announced at a gala dinner at The Capital Menlyn Maine in Pretoria on August 21.

The Courier‘s award recognises the teamwork involved in producing a weekly front page that combines strong journalism, photography and design.

Adjudication was overseen by Dr André Gouws of Akademia, who said this year’s competition reflected a “healthy and evolving community newspaper sector.”

The awards are sponsored by AVBOB, with support from Caxton, Novus Community Media and Stellenbosch University.

George Herald’s Michelle Pienaar was named Journalist of the Year, while Highvelder’s Wayne van der Walt won Photographer of the Year for a fourth consecutive year.