NKZN journalist, Estella Naicker scoops two prestigious National Awards
Estella took home not one but two of the most prestigious awards offered in journalism.
Courageous, intelligent, fearless and unapologetically herself, Estella Naicker is a true force to be reckoned with in local and regional news.
As a stalwart in the journalistic field, Estella’s name can be found among the best of the best, which was once again proven this past weekend when she scooped not one but two of the most prestigious awards offered in journalism.
Estella took home ‘Journalist of the Year’ and ‘Investigative Journalist of the Year’ at the Avbob FCJ (Forum for Community Journalists) Awards prize-giving hosted in Cape Town on Friday.
Estella started her journey at the Newcastle Advertiser as a senior journalist in February 2006.
She came in ‘all guns blazing’, boasting with a degree in Social Science, as well as a year’s experience at a Durban-based community newspaper.
Estella says she was always drawn to the harder side of news, focusing her attention on crime and politics-related articles.
Her superpower, according to her, is her curious nature that enables her to research any article ‘to death’, asking 10,000 questions along the way, ensuring that she always uncovers the truth, no matter how hard attempts are made to hide it.
Estella is no stranger to the limelight, as she has received several prestigious awards in the past, such as ‘Caxton Journalist of the Year’ in 2020, along with being nominated in the ‘Highly Commended’ category at the Caxton Awards numerous times.
She also bagged the Citizen Award for articles contributed to the Citizen and her most memorable award, the ‘Idasa (Independent Democratic Alternative to South Africa) Award in Local Government Reporting’ category.
This led her to be invited to attend an international media conference in Senegal, on the Northern Coast of Africa, where she got to interact with journalists from all across the world.
Winning these latest awards, according to her, ‘still feels unreal and is still sinking in’.
“I don’t work on articles with winning an award in mind. I simply do my work to make a meaningful impact on the community,” she said.
She took time to especially thank Caxton NKZN Regional Manager, Tanya Ferreira, for all her unwavering support.
“Thank you for standing by me, although I know I cause you grey hair most of the time,” she laughed. “My articles are controversial and high-profile, and can often lead to dangerous and hostile situations, but Tanya is always there to offer support, whether it’s providing armed guards, legal representation or even a place of safety should I need it.”
She also thanked Caxton National Group Editor, Irma Green, who was always on standby to read her articles ahead of printing to make sure she had considered every angle.
She continued that, “If it wasn’t for our Regional Editor, Rod Skinner, I probably wouldn’t have even entered, but Rod is the one with so much faith in my ability and encouraged me to enter at the last minute.
“I must say it is nice to be appreciated and recognised by colleagues in the same field.
“Lastly, I want to thank my family for their support, love and encouragement. My direct colleagues, who serve as my sounding board and most importantly, I want to thank my sources, who often put their very lives at risk by talking to me. Thank you for trusting me to tell your stories,” she concluded.
Congratulations to the Ladysmith Gazette for achieving third place in the Corporate paid circulation under 5000 category.
The remaining four papers in the Northern KwaZulu-Natal Caxton stable were also finalists in their respective categories:
- Newcastle Advertiser (Corporate paid circulation over 5000)
- Dundee Courier (Corporate paid circulation under 5000 category)
- Estcourt News (Corporate paid circulation under 5000 category)
- Vryheid Herald (Corporate paid circulation under 5000 category)
More about the Avbob FCJ (Forum for Community Journalists) Awards:
The AVBOB FCJ Excellence Awards, hosted by the Forum of Community Journalists NPC (FCJ), has become a well-known event in the media industry with the number of individual entries almost doubling from last year.
The 2022 competition attracted 527 individual entries. Winners were announced at a prize-giving dinner at the Cape Sun in Cape Town on 04 August 2023 with top honours going to Estella Naicker from Northern Natal News and Newcastle Advertiser (Journalist of the Year), Emily Bain from Northcliff Melville Times (Alet Roux Award for Upcoming Journalist of the Year) and Wayne van der Walt from Highvelder who is the Photographer of the Year.
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