Finalists for the Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis awards – which recognise excellence in advertising, printing and production – have shown “visual innovation” this year, says convener of judges, Clive Loxton. He drew particular attention to Rapport’s “bold and daring new innovations”.
Print and Digital Media South Africa have announced the finalists in the awards, championed by the Newspaper Association of South Africa. Winners will be announced at the Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards. The Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis awards honour newspaper excellence in advertising, printing and production, layout and typography as well as the balanced use of pictures and graphics.
Urban dailies with a circulation above 50 000 are judged in the Frewin award category; urban dailies with a circulation below 50 000 fall under the McCall award category and, urban weeklies, irrespective of circulation, are in line to win the Joel Mervis award.
“The standard of printing is still not as high as it was five years ago, with notable exceptions,” said Loxton, creative faculty head of the AAA School of Advertising. “Possibly this is the result of shareholders finding it difficult to invest in equipment in tough economic times. However, these comments should be seen in the light of the very high standards the industry sets for itself, and that we as judges have become accustomed to over the years.”
Loxton thanked his fellow judges – Logan Naidu, Tebogo Serabatse and Linda Rademan – all recognized experts in their fields for their valuable contribution. He also thanked Print and Digital Media SA for their faultless organization of the judging set-up, concluding: “It’s always a pleasure working with them.”
FREWIN, MCCALL AND, JOEL MERVIS FINALIST AND COMMENDED LISTS
The Frewin award category recognizes urban daily newspapers with a circulation above 50 000. Finalists in this category are:
– Beeld
– Die Burger
Commended: The Star
The finalists in the McCall award category, which honours urban daily newspapers with a circulation of 50 000 or less, are:
– Die Volksblad
– The Witness
Commended: The Mercury
The Joel Mervis category, recognizing urban weekly newspapers irrespective of their circulation, yielded the following finalists:
– City Press
– Mail & Guardian
– Rapport
Commended: Naweek Beeld
