We, the fairies, do not stand a chance at newspaper awards. The world does not believe in tabloids, the ”tin god” of journalism. The squirrels who judge newspaper awards have damaged the feeders for tabloids. Tabloids are like silent fairies floating over a minefield of newspaper awards. Nobody wants to acknowledge the trade. Every judge believes in broadsheet – a natural choice deemed to deliver on the promise of great journalism. Whether it is graphics, photography, news stories, features or columns – broadsheet is believed to be best.
Independent Group editor-in-chief Peter Sullivan in his column ”Hoards of Awards” published in The Media in April, might be right in saying: ”Reward is a great motivator for writers.” But not all reporters are happy – in fact, the morale of tabloid reporters is at its lowest. They are kicked in the teeth every year. The so-called black-owned tabloids are the worst. They are not seen as contributing to the standard of journalism in the country. No matter how many acrobatic stunts the tabloids pull trying to enter the feeder – there is always the hackneyed belief that broadsheet is the blueprint of journalism.
It may be true that black tabloids thrive on guts and blood and even concoct stories. But there are also fresh, comprehensive and accurate reports in tabloids like in any other broadsheet in the country. Broadsheet is capable of carrying weak reports. We have seen some of the stories that win the awards. A white reporter’s first encounter with a black mob stoning a cellphone thief might be big news to some quarters of our communities. But is it worth an award because it happens to have been reported in a broadsheet? There are tabloids that run these kind of stories every day. They too deserve to win such awards and to receive accolades proffered to broadsheet reporters or photographers. They too have shown integrity and reported fearlessly.
A story should not win an award because it was written by a white reporter – writing a ”coincidence” story such as blacks stoning each other on the street. It does not make a tabloid reporter a winner when he happens to stumble upon a cat fighting with a dog. For me, the story would be how often this happens and how often does it get reported instead of just a rehash of events.
The Mondi Shanduka awards commended its broadsheet winners in the fifth year of the awards. The judges received more than 600 entries from 186 journalists representing 35 newspapers in the country. They welcomed the tabloids in the awards with the ”warm” statement: ”At last, some tabloid newspapers entered their work.” Now let’s read between the lines. It really meant to say: ”Be very afraid – here comes the punk that lowers the standards”.
So the squirrels need to be discouraged from looking at tabloids with disdain. They need to be watched because some have direct or indirect connections with the entrants. The Nat Nakasa Awards for Media Integrity is coming up soon. Watch and learn.
Madala Thepa is an arts and culture journalist at the Sunday World and writes for The Media in his personal capacity.