Caxton excels at FCJ Annual Excellence Awards
Caxton took two of the top three prestigious individual awards.
The Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ), with the support of Caxton Local Media and Media 24, announced the winners of the 2020 FCJ Annual Excellence Awards.
Caxton journalists, photographers and editors excelled in this year’s competition which attracted 2 042 individual content pieces.
Caxton took two of the top three prestigious individual awards.
Wayne van der Walt from Highvelder was announced as the FCJ Photographer of the Year.
He also dominated in the individual photo categories by claiming the best hard news and general news photo of the year awards.
The Alet Roux Award went to Jarryd Westerdale from Roodepoort Record/Northsider.
The Alet Roux is awarded by the judges to a journalist who has been in the industry for less than three years and is a finalist in the FCJ Journalist of the Year competition.
Ettienne van Rensburg from Vaalweekblad was winner of the sports photo and best headlines awards.
Judges noted that the top sports journalists were not hindered by Covid-19 and it was “thinking outside the box” that pushed the top performers to excel. Hugo Redelinghuys from George Herald (Group Editors) won this category.
Caxton newsrooms showed that they kept their communities informed since the first reports of Covid-19 reached South African communities.
The Covid-19 reportage category attracted the second highest number of entries in the writing competition and it was Middelburg Observer’s Daleen Naude who scooped this award.
Caxton dominated in the best front pages category as Bedfordview and Edenvale News won the corporate-owned free section and Knysna-Plett Herald (Group Editors) took the top spot in corporate-owned paid section.
Caxton publications also excelled in the newspaper categories.
Judges stated that the adjudication process confirmed that community newspapers are still the best source of news for a specific community and that these publications remain the most effective platform where communities’ voices can be heard as they excel in providing local and relevant news.
The winner in the Newspaper of the Year Corporate-owned Free (pagination 24 and less) was South Coast Sun, edited by Roelien D’Amico.
The Watts Trophy for Newspaper of the Year Corporate-owned Free (pagination 24 and more) was Kempton Express, edited by Marietta Lombard.
The Hultzer Trophy for Newspaper of the Year Corporate-owned Paid (circulation 5 000 and less) was Vaalweekblad, edited by Elsje Vermeulen.
Watch the FCJ Excellence Awards:
