The pen is mightier than the sword – Jarryd wins big at FCJ Excellence Awards

It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword, and the Record’s own wordsmith, has just proven that to be true.

Jarryd Westerdale, who has been part of the Record since 2019, might be known in the Caxton Joburg West office as a man of few words, but when he starts writing, the words just keep flowing. On Friday, December 3, Jarryd showed that he brings our community nothing but the best when they open the weekly edition of the Record or browse through our website.

He was one of the many community journalists across the country who entered the 2020 Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) Excellence Awards, the only national newspaper competition for the South African community press. A total of 2 042 individual content pieces were received for a range of categories, which did not only include writing, but also photography.

This year’s award ceremony was, like the previous year, a virtual event, and the excitement in the office was palpable, as we gathered around the television screen, waiting for the winners to be announced, and, as Jarryd’s name was called out as the winner of the Alet Roux Newcomer of the Year Award, he was greeted with loud cheers and applause from his colleagues.

Jarryd was also a finalist in the Digital Reporting category, where he was awarded a third place, as well as a finalist in both the Best Column and the Journalist of the Year category.

Jarryd, congratulations from all of us at Caxton Joburg West. You made us very proud!

Although a man of few words, he had a few to share after the award ceremony, “Some things are all about timing. Everything from Adéle [the editor] giving me the chance when she did, getting to feed off the knowledge of the people in our newsroom and the events of 2020 where in sync. Thank you to everyone in our newsroom for being incredibly supportive and thank you to the Roodepoort community for always providing such extraordinary topics and people to write about”.

The Record was also honoured with a third place in the Best Front page of the Year category.