The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
The 14th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism winners
For 14 years, the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism has recognised and encouraged watchdog journalism, but never before have we done it under such challenging circumstances.
That’s the word from Professor Anton Harber, judges convener for the awards.
This year’s winners were Pieter-Louis Myburgh for his book Gangster State, who pocketed R300 000, with runner-up Pauli van Wyk of Daily Maverick for EFF and the VBS saga, who won R100 000.
“Journalists have had to adapt to reporting under conditions of social distancing, working conditions which are fundamentally hostile to a reporter’s need to get out into the field and look their subjects in the eyes. And our news media institutions are under extraordinary financial pressure, with the future of some titles at stake,” he said.
There were 24 entries this year, a few more than last year. There is a shift in outlets and media types among the entries, reflecting significant changes and diversification in our industry.
“For many years, investigative journalism and these awards were dominated by three or four mainstream newspapers; now the bulk of entries appeared first online and many come from the new generation of specialist stand-alone investigative units, like amaBhungane, Oxpeckers, Viewfinder, the OCCRP, or online-only outlets, such as Daily Maverick, GroundUp, Moneyweb and Politicsweb,” Harber said.
The first judging panel this year consisted of Harber and Thabo Leshilo, who took the 25 entries down to the best 11 for the final judging panel to focus on. The final judging panel consisted of Lizeka Mda, Tom Cloete, Thabo Leshile again, Sara Carter and Harber.
The shortlist, in alphabetic order:
Daneel Knoetze of Viewfinder/GroundUp for Killing the Files: This new, independent investigative unit got its hands on a huge database of records from the Independent Police Investigative Unit and used sophisticated data analysis to show that the police watchdog was closing off scores of unfinished cases at the end of the year without proper investigation.
Deon Wigget, freelancer/News24 for My Story: A podcast series, in which Wigget took us along as he went back decades to investigate his own abuser, was the year’s sleeper hit.
Hazel Friedman of SABC and Sipho Kings of Mail & Guardian for a series of stories on land issues: Friedman, of SABC’s Special Assignment programme, submitted a number of television entries dealing with the elite capture of land reform, and one of these was also done in print with Sipho Kings of the M&G.
Khadija Sharife and Mark Anderson of OCCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Project) for the State Capture Papers: The OCCRP is known for its important work in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and it was refreshing to see them tackling a South African story. Sharif and Anderson got hold of a copy of a computer server from Trillian, a company at the centre of state capture, and gave the first detailed account of how the notorious Gupta brothers had laundered their money through a web of shell companies.
Micah Reddy and Stefaans Brummer of amaBhungane for the EFF Rent Racket: This entry was a compendium of stories in which these two reporters exposed how the EFF uses influence over tenders to fund themselves and their party, exposing the hypocrisy of their claim to be fighting corruption.
Nicky Troll of Carte Blanche for JRA Falling Down: This piece was the result of work over more than a year by a journalist determined to track down the story behind the sorry state of Johannesburg’s roads.
Pauli van Wyk of Daily Maverick for the EFF and the VBS saga: Van Wyk’s magnum opus threw open how the EFF benefited from VBS Bank, despite their attempts to deny and cover it up.
Pieter-Louis Myburgh of Penguin Books for Gangster State: Every now and then, there comes along a piece of work that is so impactful and convincing that it comes to define the way the public sees someone, and that is the case with Myburgh’s deeply-researched book and its subject, senior politician Ace Magashule. It was interesting that Myburgh left his perch at the country’s biggest news outlet to spend months piecing together a comprehensive expose of the background of one of the country’s most powerful people. Magashule threatened to sue, but of course hasn’t, and that he is still in his job says more about this country’s politics than it does about the strength of this book.
Ray Joseph and Anton van Zyl of GroundUp for Gaming the Lottery: This is an investigation that started as an international cooperative project on lotteries at our African Investigative Journalism Conference. It combines data-driven investigation with on-the-ground reporting, and raises critical questions about an important national institution.
Ryk Van Niekerk of Moneyweb for the Picvest Property scandal: This is a formidable body of unique work that unravels the complicated story, of what Van Niekerk describes as the country’s most significant investment tragedy, involving the looting of some R4.6bn of pensioners money.
Thanduxolo Jika and Sabelo Sikiti of Mail & Guardian for How Floyd Shivambu used VBS money to buy a Range Rover: It was interesting that we had two shortlisted entries dealing with the EFF and its use of VBS money, highlighting the role journalist have played in exposing one of the most horrific acts of looting at the expense of poor people.
MMA opens entries for the Isu Elihle Awards 2020
Entries are open for the Media Monitoring Africa lsu Elihle Awards 2020.
Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) invites journalists within the African continent to apply for the lsu Elihle Awards. Applications for this year’s awards which will close at midnight on the 30 June 2020.
‘Isu Elihle’ is an isiZulu phrase and could be translated into English as a beautiful, great or simply a neat solution.
MMA’s awards seek to give children a voice and highlight the status of children in our continent. Journalists are encouraged to submit their story ideas and these can be targeted at any mainstream news medium such as TV, Radio or Online. The top six story ideas will then be selected during an awards ceremony which will be held in September. Journalists behind these ideas will each receive guaranteed financial support of R10 000. MMA will also offer support to the finalists to develop their concepts. The final stories will be ranked and the final cash prizes will be awarded as follows: R25 000 (Overall Winner); R15 000 (2nd place); R10 000 (Third Place).
For more details, terms and conditions as well as the Application Form visit the Isu Elihle Award’s website www.isuelihle.org
All the winners from the 2020 PRISM Awards
In a first for the PRIAM Awards, the communication and PR industry was invited to be part of the online experience by tuning into the show via YouTube, from the comfort of their own homes.
“Innovation and evolution are an everyday norm in our industry. The current health crisis has indeed forced us all out of our comfort zones, and innovative thinking and ideas is what will keep us moving. We had to focus on finding a way to still acknowledge all those who had entered the awards and also to celebrate the winners. We do hope that everyone enjoyed the show,” said Palesa Madumo, convenor of the PRISM Awards.
100% black woman-owned agency, The Riverbed, were announced as the biggest winners for the South African Campaign of the Year category, for their Underage Drinking campaign.
This year, the awards introduced some new and exciting categories. Amongst them, is the PRISMs Young Voice of the Year Award, aimed at recognising the awesome contributions made by the young people in the industry. Simbongile Ndlangisa was announced as this year’s winner.
“Congratulations to all the winners and a huge thank you to each and every individual, consultancy and NGO that entered this year. We look forward to doing this again next year and celebrating our industry’s amazing work,” Madumo said.
For the full list of all the 2020 winners, click here.
Riverbed Scoops 12 major PRISM Awards
The Riverbed Agency walked away as the biggest winner at the prestigious 2020 PRISM Awards, taking home 12 Prism Awards, including the South African Campaign of the Year Award 2020 for the Association for Alcohol Responsibility and Education’s Underage Drinking Campaign
“Our vision of becoming South Africa’s leading creative agency is built on moments like this,” said CEO and founder of Riverbed, Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila. “It is humbling and rewarding to be recognised for our great work, and our success at the Prisms is testimony to the dedication that has gone into creating a unique proposition for our clients, founded on our integrated capability to deliver on whole-idea solutions.”
Riverbed also won several awards for its work on Nedbank’s Money Secrets campaign, which explores South African’s emotional relationship with money and helps them make a positive change when making financial decisions.
“While winning South African Campaign of the Year is a huge achievement for Riverbed, winning 12 awards across different categories makes it even more special,” Zwambila says. “This milestone represents the culmination of years of hard work in building a purpose-led agency. More importantly, this is a win for transformation, with Riverbed as a black female-owned agency being the biggest winner on the day. The number of awards received by black agencies this year has increased significantly, showing the value of diversity and the great work coming from black agencies.”
Riverbed won the following awards at the 2020 PRISMs:
- SA Campaign of the Year Overall winner for Aware.org.za Underage Drinking
- Digital Media Relations Gold for Aware.org.za Underage Drinking
- Digital Media Relations Silver for Nedbank Money Secrets
- Financial Services Silver for Nedbank Money Secrets
- Influencer Management Bronze for Aware.org.za Underage Drinking
- Influencer Management Silver for Nedbank Money Secrets
- Integration of Traditional and New Media Silver forAware.org.za Underage Drinking
- Launch of a New Product, Service for category Silver for Aware.org.za Underage Drinking
- Media Relations Bronze for Nedbank Money Secrets
- NGO Campaign Gold for Aware.org.za Underage Drinking
- Reputation and Brand Management Silver for Nedbank Money Secrets
- Social Media as the Primary Communication Tool Bronze for Aware.org.za Underage Drinking
Eclipse Communications wins Best Large PR Agency and more
Eclipse Communications scooped the coveted title of Best Large PR Consultancy at the 2020 PRISM Awards.
Eclipse Communications CEO Steve Powell said that winning Best Large PR Consultancy is an honour and validation of the investment that has gone into the agency’s growth in recent years. “While we are very proud of this achievement, this is not the destination, but a foundation from which to amplify the strategy that brought us this far.
“We are proud of our team, many of whom are shareholders in the agency. This phenomenal team constantly and consistently delivers excellence for clients, conceptualises and executes impactful work, adds value and challenges clients to think differently, on a daily basis.”
Tribeca scoops six awards, including three Golds, at the 2020 Prism Awards
Tribeca Public Relations (Tribeca) won three Gold, one Silver and two Bronze 2020 Prism Awards at the event’s first ever virtual awards ceremony, winning in six of the seven categories the agency entered.
The Gold Prism awards were for the agency’s work in Gaming and Virtual Reality for Logitech, for PR on a Shoestring for law firm Nupen Staude de Vries, and for Reputation and Brand Management for the MenaCal.7 Woman to the Bone campaign.
“This is what solid strategic PR is all about,” the judges said in their feedback on the Nupen Staude de Vries Gold award for PR on a Shoestring. “You gave solid counsel and applied your strategic minds to the challenge.”
Its Silver Prism was won for its Business to Business communications for Nupen Staude de Vries, while Bronze awards were made to the agency’s Healthcare work on MenaCal.7 Woman to the Bone, and for Reputation and Brand Management for Bolt, the ride-hailing service.
This brings a total of six gold awards for Tribeca this year, with the agency having won a full house of gold Sabre Award’s in the three categories it entered in the 2020 Sabre Awards Africa, a clean sweep for the agency made all the more rewarding as this is the first year it entered that awards programme.
PR WORX’s awards are client victories too
PR Worx, Africa’s Best PR Agency as awarded by MEA Business Awards, has added four more trophies to its collection after this evening’s PRISA PRISM Awards.
PR Worx bagged a Silver award in the Consumer PR For An Existing Product or Service category for its “NikNaks AmaCollision campaign.” They collected a further three Bronze awards in the Business to Business category for their “Innovative Staffing Solutions Durban Showcase” campaign; for their Internal or Employee Communications for “SENTECH Connect” campaign; and another in the Public Sector category for FP&M SETA’s “Future Perfect Skills Development”.
“Working for a multiple awarded agency like PR Worx makes you want to win for the client and the team, every time you start a new campaign. Putting together the awesome work that resonates with the client and consumers is what makes these awards fulfilling because it’s not just a victory for PR Worx, it’s also a victory for our clients and their brands,” said Wandile Cindi, account director.
Havas PR walks away with three PRISM Awards
Havas PR walked away with three awards at the 23rd Public Relations Institute of South Africa’s PRISM Awards.
The three awards received by Havas PR were for two campaigns done for Right 2 Read in Limpopo and Gauteng. The Limpopo campaign was a community intervention that saw Right 2 Read galvanise people to help raise awareness of the state of education in Limpopo. The campaign received a silver award in the ‘NGO campaign’ category.
The second campaign was another community intervention aimed at raising books for the library in Alexandra township, Johannesburg. Working with ‘wastepreneurs’ in Johannesburg, Right 2 Read collected more than enough second hand books to stock the library within a three week period. The campaign won a bronze award in ‘NGO campaign’ category and a silver award in the ‘PR on a shoestring category.’
Speaking about the awards, Havas CEO, Lynn Madeley, said, “This is a fantastic win for Havas in South Africa. The recognition means a lot to us and we are proud of the teams that worked on these campaigns. They were integrated campaigns that brought the best of our expertise across difference disciplines within the group. The successes of the campaigns really made a meaningful difference in the community, and that’s what we are about at Havas.”
