A few years ago the highlight in Dome newspaper was promoting Natal University’s annual rag.No more. The paper’s growing reputation for investigative, controversial journalism was rewarded this week when it was adjudged the Best Student Newspaper of 1997 in the Mail & Guardian/Student Life student media awards.
The force behind the paper’s new vibrancy is its determined young editor Nashan Moodley (19), who also won the Best Student Journalist award. Dome was judged Best Student Newspaper for its “gutsy and thorough investigative journalism”.
“We have a whole month to do our stories, that’s why we make sure that we don’t give our readers superficial information.”
With only a R35 000 budget, the voluntary team at Dome produces eight newspapers a year.
Other winners were HeRAUt, of the Rand Afrikaans University, as best up-and-coming newspaper of the year, and Johan Haarhof of Perdeby as best student photographer.
The runners-up for Best Student Journalist were Albertus van Wyk (Die Matie), Sibonelo Radebe (Wits Student), Fidel Mbhele (Dome) and Julian Jonker (Varsity). Runners up for Best Student Newspaper were Perdeby, Student Voice, Wits Student and Agitate.
The judges were Donald Woods of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, Kate Wilson, the editor of Student Life, and Phillip van Niekerk, editor of the Mail & Guardian.
The newspaper recently shook up campus with the story “Gay Muslims unveiled” and has written about corruption on campus as well as tracking the trends in youth culture.
“We saw that there was a segment of society that was not given a voice, so as an alternative newspaper we took it upon ourselves to give them a voice,” said Moodley.