The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
Winners of the 2022 RDMAs announced
The winners of the 2022 Diageo SA Responsible Drinking Media Awards (RDMAs) have officially been announced, following an awards ceremony held at The Marriot Hotel in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.
The RDMAs recognise journalists and media at large for their efforts to report on and drive conversations around the risks of alcohol misuse, for promoting measures to encourage responsible drinking, as well as for talking to the socio-economic value of beverage alcohol.
Judged by a mix of media experts consisting of Leanne Manas, Mahlatse Mahlase, Mary Papayya, Jovial Rantao, Sibusiso Ngalwa and Cathy Mohlahlana, the winners of each category won R20 000. Finalists were also treated to an exclusive event, hosted by judge Leanne Manas and attended by Diageo executives, industry stakeholders and media.
Best Newspaper (Commercial) was won by Sandisiwe Shoba for her article in the Daily Maverick titled ‘Lockdown prohibition pushes South Africa’s toxic relationship with alcohol to the fore’. The article explores the statistics that 60% of South Africans are heavy drinkers and interviews recovering alcoholics about their struggles with addiction.
Samantha Lee Jacobs from People’s Post won the Best Newspaper (Community) category for her article titled ‘Substances are ruining families‘ which reported on alcohol and drug abuse and how it is contributing to the breakdown of families and communities living in the Cape.
Ufrieda Ho won the Best Online category for ‘Hard lockdown provides opportunity to question our unhealthy relationship with alcohol’ on Daily Maverick. Ufrieda explores how our South African culture is so intimately linked with alcohol and how lockdown has acted as a lens to examine our relationship with it.
Best Magazine went to Christian Edes from WineMag for his piece titled ‘No getting carried away as alcohol ban is relaxed’. Christian talks to the massive impact the alcohol ban has had on the wine industry, but also stresses how the narrative of South Africa’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol needs to be addressed.
Wandile Mofokeng won Best TV for his insightful piece on SABC’s Vital Signs called ‘Alcohol and Substance Abuse’. Wandile talked to a recovering alcoholic about her struggle and how she managed to turn her life around with the right support structures.
Best Radio (Commercial) was won by Sarah-Jayne King of Cape Talk for her impactful slot called “Could you give up booze for a month or more? Tribe Sober will support you”. Sarah challenges her audience to see if they could give up alcohol for one month as a great way to test your dependence on alcohol and kickstart the journey to a healthier you.
Saziso Dlamini from Ugu Youth Radio took the award for Best Radio (Community) for ‘South Africans divided over alcohol ban’. He talks to SAAPA to interrogate why they supported a complete alcohol ban during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alcohol Policy and Journalist of the Year (for the best overall entry) went to Katharine Child for her article in Financial Mail ‘The Darker Side of Drink’. Katherine explored both sides of the fence – the crippling effect the alcohol ban has had on the economy as well as the benefit it had on alleviating the health system from alcohol-related incidents.
Finally, to mix things up a little, Diageo introduced a sub-category called the Influential Voice Award. Entries in this category were judged for their overall impact and engaging content. Jana Marx from Media24 was selected as the winner of this category for her article in Beeld titled ‘SA het strawwe drinkkultuur’.
“After a pandemic that has brought much debate over the role of alcohol in our society, it is entirely apt to recognize all media for curating content to drive a conversation about alcohol use and policy. As we celebrate a decade of these awards, we applaud all those who entered their work and for using their influence to promote responsible consumption,” said Sibani Mngadi, Corporate Relations Director of Diageo South Africa.
Instinctif Partners wins PRCA Digital Marketing Award
Instinctif Partners, the integrated business communications consultancy, won Best Digital Marketing Campaign for its work on pan-African digital learning platform, atingi.org, at this year’s Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) Digital Awards in London. The award reflects the collaboration and capability of Instinctif’s German and South African teams, and the impact attainable when deep market expertise, creative excellence, and multi-market campaign proficiency are optimised at scale.
“Congratulations to the digital teams across South Africa and Germany. This incredible win is a testament to the team’s proactive, agile approach in helping the client navigate a dynamic, diverse environment and swiftly adapt the campaign’s strategic response accordingly. Their ability not just to embrace change, but to optimise for it, has been key to atingi.org’s adoption, growth and ongoing sustainability,” said project lead Sancia dos Santos, creative director, Instinctif Partners Africa.
Instinctif leverages its African influence and networks to support pan-African and international clients’ requirements. The company deploys local and global knowledge to navigate market issues on behalf of its clients across a portfolio of services including stakeholder advocacy, reputation management, PR, investor relations, public affairs, digital communications, branding and design.
Entries open for the 2022 lsu Elihle Awards
Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and UNICEF is inviting journalists within the African content to apply for the lsu Elihle Awards. Applications for this year’s awards opened on the 1 April 2022 and will close at midnight on the 13 May 2022.
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 finalists will each receive guaranteed financial support of R10 000 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 (3rd place).
Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards entries close
With the deadline for entries closing in just seven days, journalists and editors are encouraged to submit their work into the Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards (Sikuvile Awards) as soon as they can.
There are 12 categories that can be entered, including two new categories, indigenous language reporting in community media and community service reporting.
All category winners receive the coveted Sikuvile Journalism Award Trophy as well as R15 000 prize money (to be shared if there is more than one winner in a category).
The Awards for Rising Star of the Year and Journalist of the Year are selected from the entries in the categories by the jury.
The Allan Kirkland Soga: Achievement Award is also awarded by the jury. This award recognises a sustained and extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism on the part of an individual and the winner will have demonstrated impeccable ethics and craft excellence
These Awards are hosted by the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) and sponsored by Standard Bank.
Winners will be announced at a live event at The Venue, Melrose Arch, on 25 June 2022. To enter the awards: www.sikuvile.org.
Joe Public United ranked 36th most creative agency in the world
[Johannesburg] 24 March 2022: WARC is the ultimate, independent measure that for over 30 years has offered marketers and agencies the opportunity to benchmark their work against the world’s best. It combines the winners’ lists from the industry’s most important global and regional awards shows to establish an annual worldwide ranking celebrating excellence in creativity.
In the 2022 WARC Creative 100 rankings, Joe Public United was ranked the 36th most creative agency globally and was the only agency to make the top 100 from the African continent.
Pepe Marais, JPU group chief creative officer, says, “It goes without saying that this recognition would not be possible without our incredible people, clients and partners who are all equally committed to helping us grow the smallest thoughts into towering trees. This recognition inspires us to give even more and climb even higher.”
JPU group CEO Gareth Leck added, “As an agency, we firmly believe that delivering great creativity for our clients is the single most powerful way to serve their growth and the growth of our people. To be recognised as the 36th most creative agency in the world is an incredible honour and marks an important milestone in our growth journey to be ranked as one of the best creative agencies in the world. What’s most pleasing about this result is that it provides clear evidence that we are delivering on our mandate and signals that we are on course to realise our vision.”
Canon announces winners from the EMEA region for its sustainability themed photography competition
Canon’s sustainability themed ‘Moments that Matter’ photography competition, aimed at engaging people to influence change through visual storytelling at Expo 2020 Dubai Saudi Arabia, bagged the first prize award with Abbas Alkhamis being declared as the grand winner via a unanimous decision of the judging panel.
Held in collaboration with the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA), the competition was launched with an intent to drive meaningful change and sustainable action through the power of visual storytelling at Expo 2020 Dubai last year.
In alignment with the Expo 2020 theme, Canon invited photography enthusiasts to participate in ‘Moments that Matter’ competition by capturing moments that define humanity’s relationship with the planet and highlight sustainable development issues.
Participants in the EMEA region were encouraged to submit five images across any of four categories critical to global sustainability issues: Economic, Human, Environmental and Social. The entry categories were sub-divided into ‘Moments that make us’ (Environment), ‘Moments that heal us’ (Human), ‘Moments that save us’ (Social) and ‘Moments that develop us’ (Economic).
The overall competition entries have been judged by an esteemed international panel of experts, including Fiona Shields, head of photography at Guardian News and Media Group; Kathy Moran, the deputy director of photography for National Geographic magazine; Aïda Muluneh, Canon ambassador and founder and director of Addis Foto Fest; Brent Stirton, Canon ambassador and senior photographer at Getty Images, and Muhammed Muheisen, Canon ambassador, National Geographic photographer, Pulitzer prize winner and founder of Everyday Refugees.
