In their glowing citation, the judges said that the story was remarkable because “it held those in power accountable, led to the downfall of the most powerful, saw an injustice and pursued it without fear or favour and dragged the audience to the scene of the story. Not only that but the reader could touch, smell and hear the cries and feel the pain of human suffering in South Africa today.”
Unanimously, the judges said of the winning story “It is one which cannot be forgotten. It is a story that had others following the news scent. It is a story deserving of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year.”
The winning journalists will share the R125 000 cash prize money and an announcement, regarding the beneficiary/ies they have selected to receive an additional R125 000 donation, will be made in due course. The winning journalists also walked away with a BlackBerry Curve 8310 smartphone each.
Other national winners in the respective categories received prize money of R15 000, as well as a BlackBerry Curve 8310 smartphone.
One of the goals of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards is to recognise and honour journalistic excellence, and it is clear that even though online journalism is the infant of the trade, it has grown in leaps and bounds in a relatively short time. This year was the first time that the Vodacom Journalist of the Year had an online category and the judges were impressed by the breadth and range of the stories entered in the contest and the winning entry from the Daily Dispatch Online set a high standard for this new medium.
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Print Feature | Brett Horner, Chandre Prince and Ntando Makhubu of the Daily Dispatch |
| Print News | Henry Cloete of Volksblad |
| Financial/Economic | Rob Rose of the Financial Mail |
| Sport | Simnikiwe Xabanisa of the Sunday Times |
| Online | Andrew Trench, Jan Hennop, Tegan Bedser, Rudi Louw, Shadley Haupt - the online team of the Daily Dispatch |
| Cartoonist | Gavin Petersen from the Volksblad and Bethuel Mangena for Sunday World |
| Television Feature | Charlene and Eddie Stanley, 3rd Degree, e.tv |
| Television General News | Charlene and Eddie Stanley, e-News Prime Time |
| Columnist | Sam Mkokeli of Weekend Post |
| Community Media | Shafiq Morton of Muslim Views |
| Radio News | Solly Mphatsoe of SAFM |
| Radio Feature | Jacqui January of RSG and Jenine Coetzer of Channel Africa |
| Photography | Sandile Ndlovu of the Sunday Tribune |
Vodacom's chief communication officer Dot Field, commented, “Vodacom is driven by passion to provide communication solutions to its customers, just as journalists are driven in their quest for the truth. We are extremely proud of this year's winners and extend our congratulations for their superb journalism.”
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