John scoops top honour

Pictured, from left, are Constantiaberg Bulletin reporter Karen Watkins, Sentinel News reporter John Harvey, Tabletalk reporter Summer Jacobs, Cape Community Newspapers (CCN) editor Chantel Erfort, team leader of CCNs northern titles, Karen Pretorius, Plainsman reporter Kaylynn Palm and Athlone News reporter Hazel Allies-Husselman.

It was local print media’s opportunity to shine on Friday June 23 at the FCJ Excellence Awards for local media. At the event, held at Leriba Hotel and Spa in Centurion, local and community newspapers from all over the country, big or small, corporate owned or not, were honoured for work produced in 2016.

Among those recognised for their achievements was Sentinel News reporter, John Harvey, who came in second place in the investigative reporting category for his articles on unsafe playgrounds, published in Sentinel’s sister paper, the Southern Suburbs Tatler.

Overall the judges were impressed by what local media journalists present to their communities. The local media is clearly in the forefront of informing (and entertaining) the communities they serve.” Sentinel’s sister papers also celebrated some wins in the competition: Athlone News reporter, Hazel Allies-Husselman, was a finalist in the hard news reporting category; Summer Jacobs achieved third place in the human interest category, while Tabletalk, the paper she writes for, achieved third place in the best newspapers category for corporate-owned papers. Constantiaberg Bulletin and Plainsman reporters Karen Watkins and Kaylynn Palm were finalists in the journalist of the year category, with Karen also featuring among the finalists in the human interest category.

“While the opinion that means most to us is that of the audiences we serve, it’s always great to be acknowledged by our peers, and I’m incredibly proud of all our staff who made it to the finals of the awards,” said CCN editor, Chantel Erfort.