South African law firm Webber Wentzel has announced the winners of the 15th annual Legal Journalist of the Year Awards. The prestigious awards, which recognise outstanding work in the field of legal journalism, attracted a record number of entries this year.
The winners of three categories – print, television and radio – each walked away with R50 000. Tony Beamish won the print category for “Fraud at court: another spoke in the garnishee wheel”, which was published by Moneyweb and exposed corruption in the granting and administration of garnishee orders.
SABC journalist, Adel van Niekerk, was the winner of the television category, while Hazel Friedman, also of the SABC, received a commendation in this category. The winner of the radio category was Paul McNally of the Wits Justice Project and Wits Radio Academy for the story “Drug withdrawal in remand detention” which was broadcast on 27 August by Thetha FM, a community radio station based in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg.
“The awards are designed to recognise the role journalists play in promoting knowledge of our judiciary and understanding of our civil and criminal justice systems,” says Webber Wentzel senior partner David Lancaster.
