After two years of no-shows due to the epidemic, the Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards were hosted in Johannesburg on 25 June 2022 by the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) and Standard Bank SA as the Main Sponsor. The event was held to recognize the journalist’s remarkable journalism skills.
SANEF is excited to host the awards and we are confident more journalists will enter their excellent work as they have done in previous years,” says SANEF chairman, Sbu Ngalwa.Ngalwa says the Awards are a natural fit for SANEF. “The Awards are a key highlight when it comes to awarding excellent journalistic work, which is something wholly supported by SANEF.”
“In a world that is more connected than ever before, access to reliable, sourced, accurate, and verified information has become even more important today.The hard news award at the Standard Bank Sikuvile journalism awards on Saturday night went to News24 for its live coverage of the turmoil in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July of last year.337 people died in the turmoil that followed former president Jacob Zuma’s arrest for contempt of court, and the country’s economy lost roughly R20 billion as a result.
For eight days in July, News24’s reporters in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng covered the widespread looting and violence that rocked both provinces. As a result, News24’s political editor Qaanitah Hunter, investigative reporter Jeff Wicks, and KwaZulu-Natal reporter Kaveel Singh published the book Eight Days in July. The News24 team’s continuous coverage of the story, which included live updates, video journalism, and in-depth reporting, received high marks from the Sikuvile judging panel.
Pieter-Louis Myburgh of the Daily Maverick won the prize for best story of the year for his research into the Digital Vibes scam, which involved the former health minister Zweli Mkhize.Tony Heard, a former editor of the Cape Times, received the Allan Kirkland Soga lifetime achievement award for his work in exposing the apartheid regime, which included interviewing late ANC leader OR Tambo while the party was still banned.For her op-ed on Omicron travel prohibitions, Bhekisisa editor Mia Malan won the columnist award, and Willemien Brümmer of Netwerk24 won the features prize for her work on Covid-19.
The media industry has been devastated by COVID-19, according to Sbusiso Ngalwa, who was just elected Sanef chairperson for a second term. He claims that the epidemic has caused the loss of roughly 1000 journalists in the media and the closure of about 100 publications.
The SA Depression and Anxiety Group and Ngalwa have joined to assist struggling journalists, who claim mental health issues are another challenge facing the media industry,” We take it for granted that we are built tough. You go to a story, you experience a traumatic experience, you laugh about it, you smoke, and you forget about it. But the reality is that we live through that. Today, we reflected on that as newsrooms. We are not equipped to deal with trauma. Actually, we do not even understand. So, education starts with us before we partner with other people. Before we try to help journalists, we need to understand what our colleagues are going through.”
Lungisa Fuzile, CEO of Standard Bank SA, which is the award’s sponsor, lauded the contribution of South African journalists to exposing state corruption and holding those in positions of power accountable.”You don’t give yourself enough credit for the role you played,” said Fuzile, who was director-general of the National Treasury during the state capture era and resisted attempts by the Guptas to take control of the fiscus.
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Source of News: sanef lauds quality of Journalism
