The awards aim to recognise not only the skills of the traditional newsroom and journalists but their courage to bring important stories to the public's attention.

In 2019, the recipients of the SA Story of the Year — City Press journalists Dewald van Rensburg and Sipho Masondo — were also awarded the Journalist of the Year Award.

In 2018, the Daily Dispatch's Bongani Fuzile was named Journalist of the Year for his story, We Found them. The story oriented the miners sent home to the Eastern Cape without a proper retirement package, despite years of working in the mines.

"This story is an example of what journalism is about and what it can do; as following our stories, the miners received some sort of retirement benefit. This made the story worthwhile," says Fuzile.

The awards have indicated that what all these winning journalists have in common is that they verified the facts and, based on that, published the best available version of the truth. This takes courage, says the awards, 

In 2020, the judging panel says that it will consider the winners of the SA Story of the Year and Journalist of the Year entries out of the entries into the 14 categories of the awards.

Entry for freelancers is free, provided that applicants submit a letter confirming their work from their editor. Additionally, the publication must be aligned with media associations. PSS members will pay an R80 entrance fee. Entries for the awards close on Wednesday, 15 July.

The awards event will also be a virtual event to be held on Thursday, 15 October.

The entry kit, with all details regarding submissions, can be accessed and downloaded here.

For more information, visit www.pdmedia.org.za. You can also follow the Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards on Facebook.