A total of 24 finalists were chosen, from whom eight will be announced as winners at a celebratory function on 9 April.
The awards, sponsored by South Africa's largest newsprint supplier Mondi Paper and endorsed by Newspaper Association of South Africa (NASA), seek to identify and encourage excellence in South African newspaper journalism. The Mondi Paper Newspaper Awards aim to acknowledge journalists in the various disciplines of newspaper journalism: News Writing, Feature Writing, Investigative Journalism, Creative and Opinionated Journalism, Graphical Journalism, Photographic and Presentation.
"This year's entries revealed a high standard and encouraging evidence of what can be done - and moreover - what is being done," adds Berger, who also heads up the Department of Media Studies and Journalism at Rhodes University. He says the competition is becoming more representative with 29 publications entering this year compared to last year's 19.
In the News Writing category, judges sought fast-breaking stories written in styles that were fresh, highly descriptive and powerful. Submissions ranged from Gerald Morkel's dealings with Jurgen Harksen to the perlemoen poachers, to Marike de Klerk's murder trial to moving tributes from families of the South African victims in the Bali bomb carnage.
The three finalists in the News Writing category are Melanie Gosling (Cape Times) and Wisani Evidence Ngobeni (Mail and Guardian) and a team from the Cape Times comprising Ashley Smith, Lindiz van Zilla and Tony Weaver.
The Feature Writing section attracted entries highlighting the solar eclipse, gangs, refugees, the north-eastern Congo and genetic manipulation. Profiles from Graca Machel to David Kramer as well as fraudulent driving schools and the sorry story of the Vaal Triangle air pollution featured in this category. The finalists are Gielie de Kock (Rapport), Gill Gifford (The Star), Peter Machen (Independent on Saturday) and Michael Morris (Cape Argus).
Investigative Journalism asks for in-depth, well-researched stories and scoops. "This year's covered fraud, mismanagement, deceit and money-grabbing," notes Berger. Many of the entrants unearthed stories in what Berger dubs the "weed-ridden fields" of parastatals and pyramid schemes, forged paintings and medical care and administration. The finalists in this section are Die Burger's Willemien Brümmer (last year's Feature Writing winner), the Cape Times team - Smith, van Zilla and Weaver - and Mail and Guardian's Wisani Evidence Ngobeni.
The category for Creative and Opinionated Journalism, which stresses readability, drew entries from serious political columns to personal digressions, and from humorous satires to travelogues and book reviews. The subjects included motor racing and weddings, Elvis and Abba. The finalists are Anastasia de Vries (Die Burger), Sunday Independent's Jeremy Gordin and Maureen Isaacson, also from Sunday Independent.
The ability to tell stories through pointed visual effects was effectively demonstrated by the Graphical Journalism submissions with health, sports, weather and road safety featuring among the entries. Of interest were the graphical representations of Hansie's plane crash, Mark's shuttle into space and the discovery of the 2000-year-old Kirkwood mummy. Finalists in this category are Gail Irwin (The Star), Hanlie Malan (Die Burger) and Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro).
The Photographic segment included striking images of eviction for non-payment of rates, poignant pictures taken at a school for blind and visually impaired children and illustrations of, among many others, mob justice, the World Summit and the famine in Malawi. The finalists are Brenton Geach (Cape Argus), Debbie Yazbek (The Star) and last year's Photographic frontrunner, Siphiwe Sibeko (The Star).
The Presentation category, which covers layout and design, drew some impressive spreads, says Berger, along with creative explorations in tabloid size pages and youth-oriented aesthetics. Finalists in this section are Andries Gouws (Beeld), Jan Morgenrood (Die Burger) and Arlene Prinsloo (Rapport).
No entries were called for the eighth category, South African Story of the Year. The judges nominated stories guided by the criteria of agenda-setting and impact on one hand and new insight into the changing character of South Africa on the other Berger explains. The two nominations are Gielie de Kock of Rapport and the Cape Times trio, Smith, van Zilla and Weaver.
Winners and finalists in each of the eight categories will be honoured at an awards ceremony on 9 April 2003 at the Sandton Convention Centre. Winners will receive a golden Mondi Nib, an R8 000 cash prize and a framed certificate.
