Roodepoort Record and Northsider news team recognised by FCJ
The Roodepoort news team recently received recognition from the Forum for Community Journalists for their excellent work in 2019.
Excellent photos, amazing writing and memorable front pages were some of the categories in which the Roodepoort news team excelled during the recent 2019 Forum for Community Journalists (FCJ) competition.
The FCJ awards is a national competition held to promote and express the interest of all journalists employed on a permanent or freelance basis at regional community newspapers, magazines and online community publications throughout South Africa. It is an independent, voluntary non-profit company.
Roodepoort Northsider journalist, Siso Naile, was named a finalist in the Sport Photo of the Year category. Siso’s photo titled, ‘Punching their way to victory’ captured the moment Cane Dube sent his opponent, Fanny Mguny to the floor during a match at the Day of Reckoning Reloaded boxing event in Kagiso in 2019.
“I had no expectations from these awards but I’m chuffed and humbled by the recognition,” Siso said while adding that this made him very proud and boosted his photography confidence.
In the category for best Sport Journalist of the Year, Roodepoort Northsider journalist, Thabisile Mgwali, and Roodepoort Record journalist, Jarryd Westerdale made the finals. It was Jarryd who made the cut and finished in third place.
One of the newest members to the Caxton Joburg West family, the talented Jarryd covers a variety of topics but enjoys sports writing – which is evident in his often tongue-in-cheek observations.
Roodepoort Record also took third place in the Best Front Page category for corporate-owned free newspapers.
One of the three front pages entered into the competition was ‘Davidsonville lockdown’ which covered Davidsonville residents’ protesting about faulty meter boxes turning violent, with police firing rubber bullets at them.
‘Guilty of murder’ was the front page that brought the news that Onke Hartin Mashinini had been found guilty of murdering the three-year-old Liyaqat ‘Lee’ Mentoor.
When minibus driver, Thabo Modikoane, was sentenced after being found guilty on charges of culpable homicide and reckless driving that had caused the death of four teens in a road accident, the Roodepoort Record was there. The third entry in the Front Page of the Year category, titled ‘Ten years is not enough’, was about the outrage the parents of the victims and the community expressed about Modikoane’s ten-year sentence.
Roodepoort Record editor, Adele Bloem, said the balance between a good visual and the impact the story has on the community is what makes for a good front page.
Well done to the Roodepoort team on their achievements.
