Northern regional winners put best foot forward in Vodacoms
This year, 967 entries were received in the 12 categories.
JOHANNESBURG – This year, the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards celebrates 20 years of democracy and mark the 20th anniversary of Vodacom.
It’s a double celebration, both of journalistic excellence and communication facilitated by Vodacom. During this period, journalists covered stories with global reach and significance, requiring in depth research to bring their stories to life.
Convenor of the judging panel, Mary Papayya said, “Once again, the judging process was filled with vigorous debate, and I thank the judges for the critical and concise decision making they committed themselves to. The work we saw was excellent and we hope to see continued growth and momentum for the Vodacom Awards.”
This year, 967 entries were received in the 12 categories: CSI/Sustainability, Editor’s Choice, Financial/Economic, Online, Photography, Print Feature, Print News, Radio Feature, Radio News, Sport, Television Feature and Television News. This was an increase on last year where 830 entries were received. This year, the Print Feature category received the most entries, with 211 journalists vying for the title.
Maya Makanjee, Chief Officer for Corporate Affairs at Vodacom Group said: “I would like to thank the panel of judges for their sterling work during the judging process.
“This year’s judging panel comprised experts in their fields, and I would like to thank Elna Rossouw, Mary Papayya, Collin Nxumalo, Arthur Goldstuck, Johann de Wet, Joe Thloloe, Ryland Fisher, Megan Rusi, and Patricia McCracken, who made their time and expertise available to us.”
Regional winners for the Northern Region were announced today at a function at the Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, Johannesburg.
Regional winners will each take home R5 000 and attend the national finals in Johannesburg on 31 October 2014.
The winners of the 2014 Vodacom Journalist of the Year regional Awards in the Northern Region are:
2014 CSI/Sustainability winner
Sheree Bega. Saturday Star, Remining could mean double the toxic trouble for residents.
2014 Financial/Economic winners
Pieter-Louis Myburgh and Dewald van Rensburg. City Press and Rapport, Transnet tender doubts.
2014 Online winners
Bianca Bothma, Dianne Hawker, and Lenyaro Sello. eNCA, Road to Qunu.
2014 Photography winner
Paul Botes. Mail & Guardian, Marikana aftermath.
2014 Print Feature winner
Carlos Amato. Sunday Times, feature on Carlton Centre and articles on the rape trial and murder trial of Anene Booysen and its aftermath (Body of work).
2014 Print News winner
Debora Patta. City Press, Coverage of how ambulance broke down on night former President Nelson Mandela was transported to hospital – the beginning of the end.
2014 Radio Feature winner
Melini Moses. SABC, SAfm, Prevalence of childhood cancer.
2014 Radio News winner
Alex Eliseev. Eyewitness News, South Africa’s water crisis.
2014 Sport winner
Sameer Naik. Saturday Star, Preparations for Brazil World Cup, contextualsing South Africa versus Brazil.
2014 Television Feature winners
Fathima Simjee. Health e-News Service, Sugar Daddies.
2014 Television News winner
Zikhona Tshona. eNCA, Investigation into “fake” sign language used at former President Nelson Mandela’s memorial service.
2014Editor’s choice winner
Christine Mhundwa
“We’d like to congratulate all the winners in the Northern region for thought-provoking and excellent journalism. We look forward to meeting you at the national finals, where we will be celebrating excellence in journalism in South Africa,” said Makanjee.
