TIMES MEDIA JOURNALISTS WIN BIG AT THE STANDARD BANK SIVUKILE AWARDS AND THE FINANCIAL MAIL AND SUNDAY TIMES BUSINESS TIMES JOURNALISTS SHINE AT SANLAM AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN FINANCIAL JOURNALISM

Times Media Journalists win big at The Standard Bank Sivukile Awards

Twenty-three Times Media journalists and photographers claimed an array of top honours at the 2015 Standard Bank Sivukile Awards held 24 June in Sandton.

In particular, senior reporter Bongani Fuzile and former deputy political editor Mphumzi Zuzile from the Daily Dispatch won the Investigative reporting category as well as the SA Story of the Year Award for their investigation into the Mandela funeral fund scandal. This is the second major award that the reporting of the Mandela funeral scandal by the Daily Dispatch has won in recent months. Last year it also won the investigative category of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards. It went on to win the overall Journalist of the Year at the same awards.

Daily Dispatch editor-in-chief Bongani Siqoko says the award was not just for Fuzile and Zuzile, “but for every staff member who worked with them to turn this project into an award-winning investigative project”. He believes “it is also an award for all those whistleblowers out there.”

The Times walked away with two awards. Reporter Shaun Smillie won the enterprise news category for a series titled The Lion of Alberton, on how a notorious drug dealer was finally brought to justice, while photographer Alon Skuy picked up the award for feature photography for a series of photos titled “The Good Old Days” on the plight of the elderly.

Almost 700 submissions were received across 14 categories in the annual awards recognising excellence in South African journalism.

Herewith further highlights of the night’s successes for the Times Media Group:

• Runners-up in the Investigative Journalism category - Stephan Hofstatter, Mzilikazi wa Afrika, Piet Rampedi & Andre Jurgens, Sunday Times for “Exposed: How arms dealer bankrolled Zuma”
• Winner of the Enterprise News category – Shaun Smillie, The Times/Timeslive for “The Lion of Alberton”
• Runners-up in Enterprise News category – Kathryn Kimberley, The Herald for “Gangs thrive on poor”; Mkhululi Ndamase, Riaan Marais & Brian Witbooi, The Herald for “A legacy in ruins”
• Runner-up in Feature Writing category - Carol Paton, Business Day for “Alternative reality keeps mine workers resolute”
• Runner-up in the Editorial Cartoons category - Cuan Miles, Daily Dispatch for “Selfie Serving”
• Winner in the Feature Photograph category - Alon Skuy, The Times for “The good old days”
• Runner-up in the Feature Photograph category - James Oatway, Sunday Times for “Rhino conflict”
• Runners-up in the News Photograph category - Alon Skuy, Sunday Times for “An ultimate loss” & “#Senzo’s dad @ memorial” ; Simphiwe Nkwali, Sunday Times for “Man of the masses”
• Runner-up in Sports Photograph category - James Oatway, Sunday Times for “This round’s mine”
• Runners-up in the Presentation Category - Keith Tamkei, Sunday Times Lifestyle for “The Dandy Man Can” ; Tanya Harris, The Times for “Bringing the dead to life”
• Runner-up in the Young Journalist of the Year category - Poppy Louw, The Times for “Orania: 20 years of Democracy”
• Commended in the Columns/Editorial category – Sue de Groot, Sunday Times for “As the world terns”
• Commended in the Multiplatform category - Estelle Ellis, Dorette de Swardt & Eugene Coetzee, The Herald for “After the crash”

Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism

The Financial Mail and Sunday Times Business Times journalists again excelled at the Sanlam Financial Journalism Awards which also took place on 24 June 2015.

Financial Mail claimed the top prize of the evening, thanks to journalist Claire Bisseker who together with Bruce Whitfield were joint recipients of the Financial Journalist of the Year Award. Claire has now won the award two years in a row. In addition, she also won in both the Economy (platform neutral) and African Growth Story (platform neutral) categories.

Peter Bruce, editor-in-chief of Business Day, Financial Mail and BusinessDayTV, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Tim Cohen, editor of Financial Mail says that this accolade is “a fabulous, most deserved cap on a really exceptional career.”

“I just wanted to add my thanks, congratulations and general felicitations to everybody, not just the winners but subs, desk editors, graphics and everybody who has done such great work that enabled this to happen, particularly in such difficult times,” says Tim.

Further congratulations must also go to the following category winners from within Times Media:

• Financial Markets (platform neutral) – Rob Rose, Sunday Times Business Times
• Multimedia Financial Journalist of the Year – Bruce Whitfield, 702’s Money Show and Sunday Times Business Times

Editorial changes at Business Times and Financial Mail

Times Media is pleased to announce some changes in leadership in our business publications.

Business Times Editor Rob Rose will be moving to the Financial Mail as Deputy Editor and will also assume the role of Editor of Investors Monthly. Rob is a great asset to the business and I am sure will add enormous value to the title in the coming months and years.

Ron Derby will be moving to Business Times as Editor. Ron has played a key role in redeveloping Financial Mail and in helping make it a relevant and essential part of SA business journalism, as evidenced at this year’s successes Sanlam Financial Journalism Awards.

Andrew Gill , Managing Director at Times Media says, “I wish them both well in their new roles and look forward to seeing the positive results of their influence on their products.”