Nat Nakasa Award

August 22 2020

SANEF Elects New Leadership as All Journalists Covering Covid-19 Receive the Nat Nakasa Award

22 August 2020

The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) at its AGM on Saturday 22 August elected Newzroom Afrika Politics Editor Sbu Ngalwa as its new chairperson for the next two years.

Adriaan Basson (News24) is the new deputy chairperson, Mahlatse Mahlase (EWN) is secretary-general and Nwabisa Makunga (Sowetan) the new treasurer.

The AGM applauded the bravery journalists have shown during their coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. It was again confirmed that the Nat Nakasa Award would be given to the entire industry.

Says Ngalwa, “Journalists have been at the forefront of telling the unfolding story of South Africa’s response to Covid-19. They have gone into the heart of the storm, risking injury and infection. We’ve lost some colleagues due to Covid-19 and we’ve had scores of other journalists contract the virus, in the line of duty. Sanef thought it important to recognise the brave efforts of each and every journalist in this country who continue to work under these challenging conditions”.

SANEF will be celebrating the award with a documentary that will be screened tonight on eNCA and Newzroom Afrika at 8pm and will be screened on SABC tomorrow morning at 9am as part of its Media Monitor Programme. The programme will also be streamed on EWN and on News24, also at 8pm today.

The AGM further celebrated the fact that it had been able to raise approximately R3.25m from corporates, individual citizens and journalists to assist fellow journalists who have lost their jobs and income. The first round of funding of R5000 each to 227 grantees will be distributed early next week. A further round of funding will then be announced, later next week.

The meeting also got an update on the progress made as regards SANEF’s Ethics and Credibility Inquiry. The Inquiry was launched as part of SANEF’s 2019 AGM. The AGM was informed that the Panel report from Judge Kathleen Satchwell would be released at the end of September 2020. The recommendations will then be debated and an industry action plan drafted. This will then be adopted at an industry conference that will be held early next year.

In terms of other leaders elected, SANEF is proud to announce that it has a new 25-member Council including the following people from the following media houses:

Adriaan Basson – News24
Amina Frense – SANEF Founder Editor
Angie Kapelianis – SABC
Chiara Carter – Arena Eastern Cape Publications
Dianne Hawker – Newzroom Africa
Dunisani Ntsanwisi – Community Media
Glenda Daniels – Wits
Izak Minnaar – SANEF Founder Editor
Janet Heard – Daily Maverick
Judy Sandison – SANEF Founder Editor
Katy Katopodis – Newzroom Africa
Mahlatse Mahlase – EWN/Primedia
Makhudu Sefara – Sunday World
Mary Papayya – SANEF Founder Editor
Mia Malan – Bhekisisa
Monica Laganparsad – New Frame
Nicki Gules – Sunday Times
Nwabisa Makunga – Sowetan
Phathiswa Magopeni – SABC
Qaanitah Hunter – News24
Sbu Ngalwa – Newzroom Africa
Sheldon Morais – News24
Sipho Kings – M&G
Sthembiso Msomi – Sunday Times
Tshamano Makhadi – TUT

The following people were elected as sub-committee chairs and regional convenors:

Media Freedom – Mary Papayya
Education and Training – Tshamano Makhadi
Ethics and Diversity – Monica Laganparsad
Digital and Broadcasting – Sheldon Morais
Access to Information and Media Policy – Izak Minnaar
Community – Dunisani Ntsanwisi
Gauteng Regional Convenor – Katy Katopodis
KZN Regional Convenor – Judy Sandison
Eastern Cape Regional Convenor – Chiara Carter

Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.

Socials

Twitter: @SAEditorsForum

Email: [email protected]

Website: SANEF

August 21 2020

SANEF to award entire media profession with 2020 Nat Nakasa Award

COVID-19, Events, Nat Nakasa Awards, News

21 August 2020

The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) will be awarding its coveted Nat Nakasa Award to South Africa’s entire body of journalists who have been covering the coronavirus story. The announcement will be made on Saturday 22 August with the airing of a documentary commissioned to commemorate the vital role journalists play in our society – especially, in light of the harsh circumstances journalists as individuals find themselves in during the coronavirus pandemic.

The documentary, which was filmed in recent months while the country still remained under national lockdown regulations, aims to shine a light on the courageous work done by South African journalists on the frontlines in a time of great unease and continued stress due to the global pandemic.

“Set against the backdrop of a country plagued with corruption and economic inequality, the coronavirus lockdown and a world in crisis, SANEF set out to lift the veil and bring to life the heroes that stand behind the headlines as we honour the media with the 2020 Nat Nakasa Award,” says SANEF Chairperson, Mahlatse Mahlase.

Journalists have continued to work everyday, despite the risk of themselves being infected and also in some instances facing a precarious future. The industry has faced mass retrenchments, massive salary cuts and closure of media houses.

Sanlam Chief Executive: Brand Sydney Mbhele said, “This acknowledgement to journalists collectively as winners of the Nat Nakasa Award not only reflects their brilliance on holding powerful individuals and institutions in society accountable on the unprecedented and complex social impact of the coronavirus, it also honours their on-going dedication to promote an informative and free press. Our support for the awards and SANEF reflects our commitment to support journalism and media initiatives that reflect a boldness and transparency that helps make our world an open-minded, enlightened place to live, thrive and play.”

The award is traditionally presented to a single South African practitioner in newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and online media and whose reporting celebrates freedom of speech and media integrity. It recognises integrity, fearless reporting, commitment to the service of the people of South Africa, the tenacity to maintain reporting despite significant obstacles, in resistance of censorship, and having shown courage in making information available to the public.

“Our journalists have played a vital role on the frontlines in 2020 as we face the pandemic head on, and will be honoured with a collection of true contemporary stories shared by so many of our countries’ most seasoned journalists and media voices as they unmask (literally) the day-to-day struggles faced in their plight to provide us with unbiased and in-depth coverage of current affairs.”

The SANEF management committee and independent judges took the decision that all journalists working tirelessly across the country and in our communities deserve the Nat Nakasa Award for the courage that they have displayed.

“For many it is tough to listen to the news, let alone the toll it takes on those who are experiencing, dissecting and reporting on the current realities faced by our country and the world as a whole,” says Mahlase.

“Disease, poverty, displacement, hunger, brutality, GBV, corruption, looting, and the rising covid-19 death toll are just some of the headlines we’ve come to read – and expect – each day as we open our eyes in South Africa. But in this we forget that it is often about people, and that these stories are brought to us by people – all while managing very personal experiences such as risk to their own families through exposure to the virus, police brutality as well as the very real and very harsh impact of a loss of income and their own livelihoods. Journalists have continued to do what they do, often with a window on the world that is as real for them as the people they are documenting,” she says.

The documentary honouring the media with the 2020 award will air on most national news channels on Saturday, 22 August 2020, after which it will be available to stream on the official SANEF YouTube page.

Notes to Editors:

Nat Nakasa was a South Africa journalist who died in exile at the age of 28 after a brief but dynamic career characterised by his journalistic courage and integrity. In 1964 Nakasa left South Africa for the US to take up a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. In doing so, he relinquished his South African citizenship. After moving to New York the following year, he suffered increasing homesickness and isolation, which contributed to his suicide on July 14 1965.

Recent award recipients include; include Qaanitah Hunter (2019), Branko Brkic (2018), Sipho Masondo (2017), and the SABC8 (2016).

For more information please contact:

Sbu Ngalwa – SANEF Chairperson (073) 404-1415
Adriaan Basson – SANEF Deputy Chairperson (082) 562-2113
Mahlatse Mahlase – Secretary General (083) 399-2852
Nwabisa Makunga – Treasurer (082) 555-1972
Mary Papayya – SANEF Media Freedom Chair (082) 379-4957
Judy Sandison – SANEF KZN Convenor (082) 571-3334
Katy Katopodis – SANEF Gauteng Convenor (082) 805-7022
Kate Skinner – SANEF Executive Director – (082) 926-6404

Socials

Twitter: @SAEditorsForum

Email: [email protected]

Website: SANEF

May 7 2020

A new vision for Nat Nakasa 2020 – We need your assistance

News

Noting the daily grind of reporters struggling to tell the Covid-19 story in various newsrooms around the country and noting journalists’ decision to go out on a limb to report – despite the dangers – the Nat Nakasa judges, in consultation with SANEF, have decided that the story of 2020 is Covid-19 and that the media industry and journalists in South Africa as a whole should collectively be given the award.

Since the outbreak of the virus in the country, many editors in newsrooms around the country have faced daily challenges including difficult choices of assigning journalists to cover the COVID-19 stories, despite the risks. In equal measure journalists have stepped up to the challenge and have taken leave of the safety of their homes and work office space to roam the country searching for unique angles to tell COVID-19 related stories.

Our plan this year is to create a documentary of the incredible work that journalists have been doing.

SANEF thus wishes to encourage all newsroom to submit quality video clips of the work of courageous journalists in the field doing their reports on COVID-19.

We would like journalists, freelancers and editors to submit:

Video clips using smartphones and related video equipment reflecting the typical life of a reporter going out on a limb to bring stories back despite the remoteness of the communities, the difficulties of telling the stories, the difficulties of lockdown, the daily exhaustion, the mental fatigue, the danger of infection and harassment from security authorities.

All media houses – public, private and community as well as freelancers – are invited to record and capture these video clips of the mood in the newsrooms and journalists out on assignment to creatively portray their news coverage of the crisis. Please submit the clips to [email protected]

It is important to note that the video will of course be a sample of work to illustrate the spread of the award.

SANEF will appoint a video production company to edit the clips and create a collage representing the South African coverage of the virus across the length and breadth of the country.

Further details will be provided soon.

please click here for more on the Nat Nakasa Award : https://sanef.org.za/nat-nakasa/

February 4 2020

Event Management Tender Notice for SANEF

News

Event Management Tender Notice for SANEF Nat Nakasa Awards and Gala Dinner / SANEF Annual Fundraising Dinner

Introduction

The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is one of the most influential groupings in South Africa. It consists of title editors and senior journalists operating in print, broadcasting and digital mainstream at national as well as some regional and community media levels. It also serves media trainers and academics from major journalism departments and training institutes in the country.

SANEF’s vision is to promote the quality and ethics of journalism, to reflect the diversity of South Africa, and to champion freedom of expression.

Event Management Services

SANEF would like to invite event management companies and individuals to bid to manage one or both the following events:

Event #1: Nat Nakasa Award and Gala Dinner

Nat Nakasa was a prominent South African journalist and writer who died in exile in 1965. The annual Nat Nakasa award is awarded for courageous and brave journalism. The award recognises any media practitioner – journalist, editor, manager or owner – who has:

Shown integrity and reported fearlessly;
Displayed a commitment to serve the people of South Africa;
Tenaciously striven to maintain a publication or other medium despite significant obstacles;
Resisted any censorship; and
Shown courage in making information available to the SA public.

The winner is selected by a jury on the basis of nominations submitted by the public.

The Nat Nakasa Award & Gala Dinner is scheduled for 20 June 2020 in Johannesburg. The award and the gala dinner are kindly sponsored by Sanlam. The selection of journalists for the awards will be organised by SANEF. Approximately 100 people are expected to attend.

Event #2: SANEF Fundraising Dinner

In 2016 SANEF decided to hold an annual fundraising dinner for the purpose of mobilising financial resources for SANEF’s media legal defence fund. In 2017 SANEF’s Annual Fundraising dinner coincided with the commemoration of the 40^th anniversary of Black Wednesday. Annually, SANEF commemorates Black Wednesday to emphasise the importance of media freedom and reflect on the fateful day of 19 October 1977, when the apartheid state banned several newspapers accused of being aligned with the black consciousness movement and ideology.

The Sanef Annual Fundraising Dinner is scheduled for Friday 16 October 2020 in Johannesburg. A prominent South African or international speaker will be invited to address the event. Different categories of sponsors need to be secured. The event company will be paid a commission of 10% on all funding raised.

Approximately 200 people attend this event.

Tender document:

Prospective companies and individuals should submit a document that contains the following:

Name of company/individual and contact details including company registration and ID numbers of representatives;
Profile and references;
Outline of how the company/individual would approach the Nat Nakasa Award and Gala dinner (event concept/theme including entertainment and decorations; proposed venues and menus, detailed budget); and or
Outline of how the company/individual would approach the SANEF Fundraising Gala Dinner (event concept/theme including entertainment and decorations; proposed menus and venues; budget and proposals for fundraising).

Bidders can apply for either one or both events.

Shortlisted bidders will be asked to present to the SANEF management team.

Date of final submission: 18 February 2020

Contact details for submission:

Office Administrator, South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF)

Email: [email protected] Website: www.sanef.org.za

Please note the decision of the SANEF Management Committee is final and no correspondence will be entered into with unsuccessful bidders.