Your community newspaper, Talk of the Town, has been nominated as a top 10 finalist in the category Paid newspaper of the year in the AVBOB FCJ Excellence Awards for 2023. The Forum of Community Journalists recently announced the finalists of the awards and said that this year many new names had appeared for the first time.
“After almost six weeks of hard work and working through 531 entries, the panel of 24 judges, led by convenor André Gouws, selected the finalists in each category,” the FCJ said in a media release on Tuesday June 24.
“While there were slightly fewer entries this year than last year, judges were impressed with the quality of work entered and the deep dedication shown by community journalists across the country,” says Gouws.
“Not only are community journalists the local watchdogs, but they help communities thrive by reporting on all that is happening, from sport to social events and supporting local businesses. Newsrooms are small and community journalists work very hard. We, as the judges, can see that. What is more important, however, is that people in your communities see and appreciate what you do for them. Never under-estimate the important roles that you play,” Gouws concluded.
“A huge word of thanks goes to André and his panel of adjudicators for this huge task that they faced. We are grateful to them. I also thank everyone who entered, because without your entries, we do not have a competition,” says Ben Burger, Executive Director of the FCJ.
The panel of judges comprised seasoned veterans of the community newspaper industry and some of the best academics in the field of journalism, the FCJ said.
Ten finalists in each of the individual and title categories were named. In the paid Newspaper of the Year, Talk of the Town is named alongside Knysna-Plett Herald, Limpopo Mirror, Lowvelder, Mossel Bay Advertiser, Paarl Post, Suid-Kaap Forum, Vaalweekblad, Weslander and Zululand Observer.
Title categories are Best front page, Best back page, Free newspaper of the year and Paid newspaper of the year.
Individual categories are Digital reporting, Writing: editorial comment, Writing: hard news, Writing: headlines, Writing: human interest, Writing: investigative reporting, Writing: sport, Writing: vernacular, Photography: general, Photography: news, Photography: sport, Photographer of the year, Journalist of the year, Alet Roux award for young journalist of the year.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, July 4, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
