Not only has the total number and the quality of the entries into the awards increased year on year, but this year also saw an increase in the number of journalists entering the competition, says Ingrid Louw, chief executive of PDMSA. "This demonstrates that the Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards are seen as premium awards by the industry they serve. What adds to this credibility is the robust judging process and the high calibre of the judges."
She adds: "[The] awards' continued growth shows that South African print and digital media is finding its way through the maze that technology has created for these platforms and is evolving to meet the needs of its readers."
The entries were judged on the Thursday, 26 and Friday, 27 March at the offices of PDMSA in Gauteng by respected journalists, with deep expertise in the various categories of the competition.
Convening judge Paula Fray, says the strength of the awards is its focus on telling stories within the print and online media. "The awards tend to attract the best of the industry. Very often the on-going perception that the quality of journalism has gone down overlooks the fact that good quality journalism happens every day and that the best of South African journalism is world class."
The category that stood out and has a strong reputation is investigative journalism, with the judges continuing to be impressed by the range of work currently taking place and that it is taking place all over the country. Fray says it is wrong to think that this type of journalism only takes place in major cities.
The category growing and constantly evolving with the media’s own evolution is multi-media platform storytelling, Fray adds. "We continue to see new things happening here, with good examples of journalists using the technology to tell stories better."
The judging is a two-day process and is very thorough Fray explains: "The finalists are not decided by one person, but by a group and, therefore it is a longer process, which gives everyone who entered a respectful amount of consideration. The Awards are credible because of the judging process."
"I want to thank the judges for their time and dedication to the judging process which takes place over an intense few days," says Louw.
The Judging Panel was made up of Paula Fray, David Wightman, Dinesh Balliah, Gus Silber, Henry Jeffreys, Irwin Manoim, Lizeka Mda, Tyrone August, Jubie Mayet, Mathatha Tsedu, Elizabeth Barrett, Pippa Green, Tim du Plessis, Tumi Makgabo, and Neo Ntsoma.
For more information, visit www.pdmedia.org.za.