The National Press Club (NPC) is calling all members to enter the National Press Club-North-West University (NWU) Journalist of the Year competition.

“With this competition we want to encourage excellent journalism and communication and reward excellence,” says chairperson Antoinette Slabbert.

Slabbert says the journalism awards were very popular in the past and the NPC is proud to welcome back NWU as the sponsor for this competition.

Prof Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of NWU, says: “At the NWU, we believe in a free and independent press governed only by their desire to inform the public that they serve. Journalists are democracy’s watchdogs, and the press is the gatekeepers of truth. They are our eyes where we can’t see, our ears where we can’t hear. For that, we thank you. The NWU is proud of our affiliation with the NPC as well as to be a sponsor of both the Newsmaker of the Year and Journalist of the Year awards.”

The awards for 2022 will be presented at the annual Newsmaker of the Year function in April. NPC general manager Mosidi Mokgele says this event is a highlight on the calendar of the club and this year will not be different. Eskom and loadshedding were named the 2022 Newsmaker of the Year.

The panel of judges will include various independent experts and academics. “We appeal to journalists, photographers, presenters, producers and media liaison officers to enter the competition.”

The competition will consist of 11 categories:

· Print and online: news; features/investigative journalism; and photography.

· Broadcast media: radio news; radio features/investigative/actuality; TV news; TV features/investigative/actuality; and TV cameraperson.

· Excellence in community journalism: print/online and radio features/investigative/actuality.

There will also be a category for media liaison officers to enter (they can also be nominated). “For the media liaison officer of the year we are looking for someone with outstanding communication skills, accessibility, helpfulness and the like,” says NPC PRO Graeme Hosken. “The NPC executive committee will choose the winner in this category.”

In every category the winner will receive a cash prize sponsored by NWU. From the categories (excluding category 10 – media liaison officer) an overall winner will be selected.

The NPC-NWU overall journalist of the year will win a cash prize of R10,000 sponsored by the university. “We are delighted that the university has come on board as a partner. It is yet another indication of its commitment to recognising excellence,” Slabbert says.

The guidelines and the rules of the competition are on the National Press Club website competition page and on the entry forms (see the link below). To enter go to: https://nationalpressclub.co.za/journalist-of-the-year-2022