By David Jenkin

The event took place at The Venue, Green Park, also known as the Johannesburg, World Trade Centre, with 702 presenter Azania Mosaka acting as master of ceremonies. This year saw 17 categories and 63 finalists, whittled down from a total of 484 entries.

“Tonight we’ll be recognising excellence amongst the story-tellers, the story bringers that you are, the seekers of truth that you are,” Mosaka began, “We acknowledge your curiosity, your commitment for the truth, and to telling people’s stories.”

Chief executive of the Standard Bank Group, Sim Tshabalala, spoke about the theme of this year’s awards, the quest for distinction. He said; “The awards recognise that journalism has to be about much more than providing information to a news hungry public. After all, information, facts, opinions, all of that is already available, overwhelmingly so, from any number of sources. What distinguishes a good journalist in our media saturated society is a commitment to sifting through the noise, the anecdotes, and the hearsay, to looking behind and beyond the obvious stories of the day, to seeking out an understanding and multiple points of view, and analysing, contextualising, and reporting in a manner that helps us to make sense of the world.”

He went on to praise the strength of South Africa’s free press, explaining how a free and independent media is an essential ingredient in democratic development, adding that business also has a role to play. “As we applaud the skill, courage, and tenacity of tonight’s winners, let us look to our own roles in respecting and defending the rights and freedoms set out in our beautiful Constitution.”

In her address, convening judge Paula Fray said; “It’s going to be hard to celebrate these achievements without acknowledging that our industry is going through difficult times. Hundreds of our colleagues have received, or are about to receive, retrenchment letters, the heightened animosity from politicians has spilled over to the general public, and journalists are increasingly a target for violence. And we find ourselves feeding an insatiable online beast even as we struggle to find a business model in our transition from a print to a digital approach.”

She added that in such difficult times, it is important to find the courage to continue presenting stories without fear or favour, and industry competitors should have a collective bias towards the basic tenants of journalism. She went on to praise the winners and the strength of this year’s entries in a number of categories.

The evening’s entertainment, during a light-hearted intermission, was provided by stand-up comedian Nicholas Goliath.

The winners were as follows:

  • Hard news: Beauregard Tromp (Sunday Times) for The killing of Emmanuel Sithole;
  • Columns/Editorial: Verashni Pillay (Mail and Guardian) for Body of Work;
  • Enterprise news: Bongekile Macupe and Zoe Mahopo (Sowetan) for Big Stink;
  • Feature writing: Mia Malan (Mail and Guardian) for Diepsloot: Where men think it’s their right to rape;
  • Investigative journalism: Siphe Macanda (Daily Dispatch) for Siyenza toilet scandal;
  • Editorial cartoons: Dr Jack Swanepoel and John Curtis (Eye Witness News) for Munich 1935-2015;
  • Graphic journalism: Rudi Louw (Graphics 24: City Press) for In search of a better life;
  • Popular journalism: Everson Luhanga (Daily Sun) for Oscar scores in jail;
  • News photographs: James Oatway (Sunday Times) for The killing of Emmanuel Sithole;
  • Feature photographs: Conrad Bornman (Volksblad) for In the shadow of the valleys;
  • Sports photographs: Alon Skuy (The Times) for Lesotho ski-jump;
  • Presentation: Nelandri Narianan (The Star) for Face of our past;
  • Multiplatform: Elsabe Brits and team - Debree Kluge and Gys Visser (Netwerk 24) for Homo Naledi-Pakket;
  • Multimedia: Jessica Mulder and Team - Stephens Simon, Lebohang Mashiloane, Neil Raath, Andy van Eeden, Andrew Fehrsen and Anastasya Eliseeva (eNCA.com) for Hope to Glory;
  • Story of the year: Beauregard Tromp and James Oatway (Sunday Times) for The killing of Emmanuel Sithole;
  • Young journalist of the year: Nokuthula Mbatha (The Star) for Deep in the devil’s drug; and 
  • Newspaper journalist of the year: Siphe Macanda (Daily Dispatch) for Siyenza toilet scandal.

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