By Lindsey Kin

“We can’t quite decide if the world is growing worse or if the reporters are just working harder… You work it out.” – So said South African radio and television presenter, finance journalist and motivational speaker, Leanne Manas, who was the MC for the evening, before the acknowledgements of South Africa’s best in journalism commenced.

The evening saw Mail & Guardian take top honours with award in the categories for best Analysis, Commentary and Enterprise News (Samantha Reinders and Mara Kardas-Nelson for the 'Blood, sweat and water' series on acid mine drainage); Investigative Journalism (Matuma Letsoalo for 'Mrs Vavi, the pension fund and the R40 000 bribe’, ‘Vavi-linked firm in new bribe scandal’, ‘Car given to Vavi’s sidekick’, ‘Company hit by new scandal’, and ‘Police set to probe M&G ‘briber’; and Newspaper Journalist of the year, which was awarded to Matuma Letsoalo, who joined the Mail & Guardian in 2003 and writes about labour and politics, collaborating with the investigations team from time to time. World-class quality and consistency are just a few of the criteria that were taken into consideration for the prestigious accolade. Letsoalo now adds his 2011 award to his other list of achievements, including the CCN African Journalist of the Year prize in 2004; and a joint category winner of the Mondi Shanduka SA Story of the Year 2008.

Die Burger, Beeld and Volksblad also made ‘headlines’ and scooped the awards for best Feature Writing (Dana Snyman for 'Ons roep hom Sello'); and Creative Journalism (Willem Kempen and Louis Kruger for ‘As Mev. Ples op FB was...’).

Other accolades included the Frewin, Joel Mervis and McCall newspaper publishing awards, which were presented by Prakash Desai, president of the Newspaper Association of South Africa to publications that excel in the criteria laid down by the industry. The Frewin Award, which was presented to Beeld newspaper, has been in existence for the past 62 years, recognising urban daily newspapers with a circulation above 50 000. The McCall publishing accolade, awarded to Volksblad, has been in existence for the past 50 years. The award recognises urban daily newspapers with a circulation of 50 000 or less. The final newspaper publishing award, the Joel Mervis competition, which has been in existence for 16 years, was awarded to Mail & Guardian. The accolade recognised urban weekly newspapers irrespective of their circulation.

The award for Extraordinary Contribution to Newspaper Journalism is a prestigious one that was agreed on by Print Media South Africa’s Mondi Shanduka Awards committee to be awarded to the late Andriette Stofberg (1953 – 2011), a powerful woman who lived journalism. The award was accepted by her son, Thomas Stofberg. Andriette’s career began in Port Elizabeth in 1974 before she moved to Beeld in 1983. She worked her way up to become Beeld’s first female news editor, and later, the only second deputy editor, in Beeld’s 40 years of existence. Commented Manas: “Stofberg’s introductions were powerful, hooking readers with a combination of fact and fiction. Her legacy lives on in her beautiful writing and in the two generations of journalists who have absorbed her philosophy of hard work, open-mindedness, and untiring curiosity about the world.”

The Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever Award recognises the contribution made by a newspaper journalist with extraordinary ethics and craft. “Allan Kirkland lived by this motto in life: ‘against the wrong that needs resistance for the good that lacks assistance’. In a year that marks 20th anniversary of the Windhoek declaration, an event that gave us international world press freedom day, it was wholly fitting that journalist of 60 years, Allister Sparks, was presented with the Kirkland Award for his extraordinary contribution towards free, independent and quality journalism.

Through the evening, comments were made about the newspaper industry and its survival in today’s digital age. Ahmed Haffejee, CEO of Mondi Shanduka Newsprint, firmly believes that while print media has taken a knock on the chin by its digital counterparts, there is still place for newspapers to flourish. “There is no sense in fighting the incredible growth of the digital age – it is time to embrace the opportunities that technology brings to our sector. With this said, however, it is in our best interest to keep newspapers alive.”

For the full list of winners from the 10th annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards, click through to the press release loaded in Media Update’s Awards news section.