Kebble story brings honours to two papers

The Kebble story was judged the story of the year in the Mondi Shanduka awards in Johannesburg Wednesday, bringing honours to journalists from Business Day and the Mail & Guardian, and Bruce Cameron of Business Report was named as journalist of the year.

Veteran editor and press freedom campaigner Raymond Louw was honoured with a lifetime achiever award, and a newspaper fellowship was given to Justin Arenstein, the president of the Association of Independent Publishers.

The organisers' statement on the story of the year reads:

The 2006 Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards saw an unprecedented five winners as joint recipients of South African Story of the Year at the sixth awards ceremony hosted by Mondi Shanduka Newsprint and the Newspaper Association of South Africa in Sandton tonight (Wednesday, April 25).

According to the judges’ verdict based on a review of all the work entered, the joint winners in this premier category are responsible for unpicking the complex and corrupt web that the late Brett Kebble built around him.

The winners are:

* Rob Rose for his series on the Kebble saga in Business Day; and
* Co-winning Mail and Guardian team Sam Sole, Nic Dawes, Zukile Majova and Stefaans Brϋmmer for their series on the “The Kebble – Selebi link”.

The judges noted that their iconoclastic journalism ‘scrupulously unraveled the networks of intrigue and dubious deals, including the man’s connections with police chief Jackie Selebi’.

Their work highlighted the unsavoury links between money and politics, a near-institutionalised collaboration that poses a direct danger to both democracy and development. “The reportage shows that where the state is unwilling or unable to guard against Kebblesque trends, the media has risen to the responsibility,” said the judges.

Carte Blanche anchor Ruda Landman was part of the judging panel for the first time. “I was particularly impressed with the investigative journalism entries. The top journalists went way beyond the surface, finding evidence that others desperately wanted to hide. The winners stayed with their story over months and months, becoming true experts on the subject.”

The competition, which received some 457 entries from 193 entrants, yielded 13 winners in the nine categories, while winners in the premier categories of South African Journalist of the Year and South African Story of the Year were selected by the judges from the entries received.

Statement on journalist of the year:

ondi Shanduka Newsprint and the Newspaper Association of South Africa paid tribute to the work of the country’s finest journalists at the prestigious Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards ceremony which was held at the Sandton Hilton and hosted by Leanne Manas.

The competition, which received some 457 entries from 193 entrants, yielded 13 winners in the nine categories however there is only one winner for the premier category of South African Journalist of the Year.  No one enters in this category, and the verdict is based on judges’ review of all the work entered.

This year’s winner is Bruce Cameron for his investigative work in Independent Newspapers’ Personal Finance supplement on the Pension Fund Scandal which exposed the secret profits made by retirement fund administration companies. Cameron was also a finalist in the Investigative Journalism category.

Founding editor of Personal Finance, Cameron is described by Prof Guy Berger, judging panel convenor, as ‘a serious and senior journalist who takes refreshing stabs at businesses that behave badly’.

“[Cameron] takes on corporate abuses with well researched information. His writing is independent, nuanced and analytical, even when covering news,” notes Berger in the judges’ statement.

“During 2006, he brought his expertise to bear by proactively, and almost single-handedly, conducting a penetrating investigation into hidden abuses in the pensions industry. By bringing this all to light, and in a sustained and wholly professional manner, Cameron is the single most deserving candidate of this award for the year.”

Bruce Cameron has been a journalist for more than 30 years working on many of the leading titles in South Africa. He is the founding editor of Personal Finance, the newspaper supplement which is published every Saturday as part of the Saturday Star and Pretoria News Weekend in Gauteng, The Saturday Argus in the Western Cape; and The Independent on Saturday in KwaZulu-Natal and of the magazine, Personal Finance.

He is a regular radio commentator on personal finance issues, and speaks frequently at symposiums on the South African financial services industry.

Prior to launching Personal Finance in March 1996, he was political editor of Business Report. Prior to that he was the editor of The Cape Argus, following a three-year stint of working for the Department of Finance in Switzerland. The diplomatic appointment followed a long career in reporting politics and government economics, mainly as the political correspondent of The Daily News in Durban.

He is the author and co-author of a number of personal finance books. His latest books are: “Getting Started: Money Matters for Under 25s” and “Financial Freedom for Women”. His other publications have been “The Personal Finance 60 Minute Guide to Foreign Investment”, “The Personal Finance 60 Minute Guide to Unit Trusts” and “Retirement – The Amazing and Scary Truth.”

He has won a number of journalistic awards including the coveted Sanlam Excellence in Financial Journalism in various categories and the Citadel Words on Money Award.

Winning entries can be viewed or downloaded at www.themedia.co.za.

The previous winner of this award is Jonathan ‘Zapiro’ Shapiro (2006).

Statement on lifetime achiever:

Tonight (Wednesday, April 25) at the sixth annual Mondi Shanduka Awards ceremony in Sandton, the newspaper industry not only celebrated the excellence of the newspaper industry as a whole, but paid homage to Raymond Louw, the 2007 recipient of the Mondi Shanduka Lifetime Achievement Award.

Under the banner ‘Weapons of Mass Discussion’ and hosted by Mondi Shanduka Newsprint and the Newspaper Association of South Africa, the 2006 Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards honoured the finest that South African newspaper journalism has to offer.

From the nominations received for the Lifetime Achievement Award, those for Raymond Louw, veteran journalist and editor, impressed the judges the most.  Born in 1926, 'Oom Ray' is described as a South African media war-horse, an arch-lobbyist and an inspiration to many, making this ‘soldier of journalism’ a deserving candidate.

The octogenarian’s resolute and exemplary passion for the media, which he expressed boldly over his 60 years in print journalism and press freedom advocacy, earned Louw this premier award.

“Long before many of today’s journalists were born, he was already fighting the good fight. In the 1970s, his decade-long editorship of the Rand Daily Mail (1966 to 1977) was central to making the publication the quality of newspaper it was,” said the judges’ statement, compiled by convenor Professor Guy Berger, head of media studies and the school of journalism at Rhodes University.

Today Louw is leading a battle against 'insult laws' in African countries that deem criticism of their governments and leaders as a criminal offence.

Louw chaired the Campaign for Open Media from 1985 to 1994 and contributed significantly to the Freedom of Expression Institute, which he led for several years.  He also chaired the Media Defence Trust (1988 to 1994) which funded journalists facing repression, and today he is part of the South African Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA) and a trustee at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism.

He has also devoted much time and energy to the South African National Editors’ Forum, (SANEF) especially in its campaign against unconstitutional apartheid era laws.

Very much an active journalist, Louw edits the South Africa Report, thus continuing a career that began as a copyholder at the Rand Daily Mail back in 1944.

 Louw has twice received the Pringle Medal from the South African Society of Journalists, and in 1994 was made a Fellow of the International Press Institute. The Misa-SA 2005 Media Freedom Award was conferred on him, and he last year received SANEF’s Stephen Wrottesley Award.

Winning entries can be viewed or downloaded at www.themedia.co.za.

Previous winners of the Mondi Shanduka Lifetime Achievement Award are David Hazelhurst (2006) and the late Dr Aggrey Klaaste (2005).

The statement about the newspaper fellowship reads:

Print Media SA recognised the winner of the newspaper industry Fellow at the 6th annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton on April 25, 2007.

The Print Media SA Fellowship Award recognises individuals for their devotion and energy in furthering the interests of the newspaper and print media industry over a number of years. The annual Print Media SA Fellowship Award is regarded as the industry’s most prestigious award in recognising key-decision makers who are identified through nominations from the industry’s stakeholders.

The 2007 Print Media SA NEWSPAPER Fellowship is awarded to:

· Justin Arenstein – President of the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP)

Justin was instrumental in the creation of the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) and has remained intimately involved in shaping its strong ‘self help’ and ‘no free handouts’ ethos, as well as engineering many of its most practical and successful projects. It is Justin who ensured that the AIP did not flounder immediately after its establishment. He invested large chunks of his time and personal finances in getting AIP’s governance systems, membership structures and projects off the ground – often at the expense of his own small business and professional interests.

Justin has championed the argument that the only sustainable and meaningful intervention in the grassroots sector is the development of home-grown production tools, management systems and business skills that allow small newspapers to compete in the marketplace as equals.

The winner of the 2007 PMSA Magazine Fellowship Award will be announced at the MPASA PICA Awards ceremony scheduled to take place later this year.

Arenstein will share the hall of fame with the other Fellows recognised since the inception of these awards. They are:

2006: Deon du Plessis, Jenny Warwick, Stuart Craib & Trevor Ncube

2005: Tony Howard, Nazeem Howa & Volker Kühnel

2004: Salie de Swardt, Terry Moolman, Thami Mazwai, Natasha Stretton & Cathy Pestana

2003: Connie Molusi, Jan Malherbe, Harold Eedes, Mike Tissong & Nick Holdsworth

2002: Brian Pottinger, Don Robertson, Graham Langmead, Hugo Redelinghuys, John Frewin,
Jon Drake & Martin Dannheisser

2001: Professor Guy Berger & Graeme King

2000: Denis Beckett, Jane Raphaely, Joe Thloloe, Noel Coburn & Rory MacNamara

1999: Aggrey Klaaste, Jolyon Nuttall, Kotie van Heerden, Merry Short, Roy Minnaar & Ton Vosloo

1998: Barbara Cooke, Bob Harrison, Hennie van Deventer, Ian Snelling, Jos Kuper & Roy Paulson

Full list of winners:

 

The winners in the nine categories are as follows:

HARD NEWS

* Rob Rose – Business Day for a series on the Kebble story titled “Kebble’s R2bn dodgy share deals exposed”. Rose was also a finalist for his “Mzi Khumalo in new BEE share-sale controversy” story.

Finalists:

* Simpiwe Piliso, Jessica Bezuidenhout and Jocelyn Maker – Sunday Times for “Selebi named…” and “Selebi and the cop mafia”

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

* Wally Mbhele and Moipone Malefane – Sunday Times for “A house divided cripples ANC”

Finalists:

* Reneé Bonorchis – Business Day for ”Absent Mittal chiefs do it by phone – if at all”; “BEE buzz hides how things stay the same” and “Accidental plus for investors”
* Sithembiso Msomi – City Press for “The amazing vanishing acts of Muzi Kunene”

FEATURE WRITING

* TJ Lemon – Sunday Independent for “Village of Dance”

Finalists:

* Hanlie Retief – Rapport for “Maar wat van ‘n bietjie Liefde”
* Kevin Bloom – Sunday Times for “Mabrr is still in the house”

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

* Sam Sole, Nic Dawes, Zukile Majova and Stefaans Brϋmmer – Mail and Guardian for a series on “The Kebble – Selebi link”

Finalists:

* Adriaan Basson and Carien du Plessis – Beeld and Die Burger for “Vrae oor SA tronkbaas”
* Bruce Cameron – Personal Finance for a series on the ”Alexander Forbes plundered pension funds”

CREATIVE JOURNALISM

* Andie Miller – Sunday Independent for “Berea Gogo”

Finalist:

* Braam Kruger – Rapport for “etensTYD”

GRAPHICAL JOURNALISM

* Zapiro – Sunday Times for “Eskom: Loose bolt tightened” and “Jacob Zuma’s 101 uses for condoms”

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS

* Chris Collingridge – The Star for “Help Me!”

Finalists:

* Enos Mhlongo – Isolezwe for ”Isiphihli bekhandwa ngamatshe abalsolwa ngokudlwengula”
* Esa Alexander – Die Burger for “Begrawe verlede” – the PW Botha Funeral – Thabo Mbeki story

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHS

* Steve Lawrence – The Star for a portfolio on the ““Zuma sex grilling”

Finalists:

* Alon Skuy – The Star for a portfolio on the “Zuma Trials”
* Neil McCartney – Citizen for a portfolio especially “Fallen Heroes”

PRESENTATION (LAYOUT AND DESIGN)

* Renthia Bornman – Rapport for “Lark”

Finalists:

* Gabriel Seeber – Saturday Star for “The battle for the HILL”
* Marzanne van den Bergh and Waldimar Pelser – Beeld for “Onskuldig of Skuldig”

From the nine category winners, the judging panel selected the winners for the South African Story of the Year and the Mondi Shanduka Journalist of the Year.

Winning entries can be viewed or downloaded at www.themedia.co.za.

The army of judges comprised convenor Guy Berger; John Dludlu, former editor of Sowetan; Ebbe Dommisse, former editor of Die Burger; Ivan Fynn, former editor of Cape Argus; Alf Kumalo, veteran award-winning photojournalist; Ruda Landman, television journalist and co-anchor of Carte Blanche; Irwin Manoim, founding editor of Mail and Guardian; Phil Mtimkulu, founding editor of The Voice; and Sophie Tema, award-winning journalist.