Ads24 CEO Linda Gibson , not surprisingly, is delighted with the performance of Media24 titles at last night’s Standard Bank Sikuvile Newspaper Journalism Awards. City Press, Daily Sun, Beeld and Die Burger emerged as winners in a significant number of categories.
“These awards coupled with the latest AMPS figures are particularly gratifying,” says Gibson. “I congratulate the winners and am pleased not only with the number of awards, but also the judges’ comments which emphasise high editorial integrity.
“Remarks were also made about the appropriateness of editorial to specific markets. Good positioning and credible journalism lead to higher levels of readership and ensure we reach the audiences our advertisers wish to target. The latest AMPS figures show solid performance in readership of Media24 dailies, weeklies and Sundays.”
Gibson said that Gordon Patterson in his article ‘Advertiser’s still rely on print’ for The Media / The Media Online wrote, “Print journalists need to interpret and write content relevant to their readers. Newspapers today need to understand the role they play in society. There are faster ways to disseminate news, so why should anyone buy a newspaper? It’s a tough question but with a simple, timeless solution: Trust, relevance, insight and a consistent point of view that supports the reader, informs and challenges popular belief. What’s tough is simply how to do it and keep doing it”.
She says the importance of relevant reporting that reflects an understanding of the community and of the reader cannot be underestimated. “A sentiment of trust that stems from editorial integrity is directly translated to the advertising that appears in the newspaper,” she says.
Media24 newspapers also emerged as overall winner of the 2013 Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis awards. These awards recognise newspaper excellence in advertising, printing and production, layout and typography, as well as the balanced use of pictures and graphics, and this is the first time that a single media owner has been named in all three categories.
In addition Beeld, Volksblad and City Press won these awards for the second year running.
“Ads24 has committed to supporting editorial with our well received research initiatives. Path to Persuasion will be released to agencies and clients shortly,” Gibson says.
