The Mail & Guardian‘s Wisani wa ka Ngobeni has been announced as the northern and southern regional winner in the print news category of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards 2003.
The regional winners were announced at a ceremony in Sandton on Wednesday.
“Our winner met all the requirements in producing a great news story,” said the judges.
“It broke the news, it was well researched, it got the facts right, it was well written and it had a major impact. But in particular … Ngobeni wrote what proved to be an extremely important exposé that stood its ground under intense scrutiny.
“The subject of the story had little choice but to admit the facts, and that was a triumph for good news reporting. The story was “Shadow falls on Lekota”, the exposé of Defence Minister Terror Lekota’s hidden business dealings.”
Other winners included S’thembiso Msomi of the Sunday Times in the print feature category, the SABC’s Adolf Spangenberg in the general television news category, e.tv’s Debbie Meyer in the television feature category, the SABC’s Jessica Pitchford in the specialist category for a Special Assignment feature, and Siphiwe Sibeko of The Star in the photography category.
A cash prize of R5 000 and a certificate were awarded to the winner in each regional category.
Regional winners are automatically entered in the overall national competition and will attend the national award ceremony at Vodaworld in Midrand, Gauteng, on November 1.
At this ceremony the winners in each of the categories will receive a certificate and R10 000 prize. The overall winner will receive a certificate and the grand prize of R100 000 for the title of Vodacom Journalist of the Year.