Amidst the gloom, some shining investigative work

April 18th, 2009

Sitting on judging panels for journalism awards gives one valuable insight into the best of South African reporting.

The Taco Kuiper Award, which gives out a whopping R200 000 for “a distinguished example of investigative journalism” will be handed out this week, and that has meant I have been poring through piles of material of some of the year’s most important stories.

The Award, which we run at Wits Journalism in partnership with the sponsor, the Valley Trust, is different from most awards in that there are not dozens of categories. There is only one award, and one runner-up, so the result is a true reflection of excellence.

Also, a team of nominators is employed to spot the best and make sure they are entered – unlike many awards in which judges can only consider those who chose to or managed to enter on time, which does not always include the best material.

As much as I would like to, I cannot tell you the outcome before Friday’s lunch ceremony, but we came down to a fascinating shortlist.

It was the first year that the award was open to broadcasters as well as print. But there were no entries from SABC or eTV – a sad reflection on these institutions. There were a few entries, however, from MNet’s Carte Blanche programme.

Also notably absent were daily newspapers, who seem not to be investing in the kind of in-depth, probing journalism recognised by this award. Last year it was a daily which won, the Dispatch of East London, and the year before it was the Afrikaans press, in the form of Beeld. Mail & Guardian has been a runner-up twice, and the Sunday Tribune once.

This year, it was the weeklies which dominated the entries.

There were two community media entries this year: one from a radio station and one from a small, struggling newspaper in Barberton. The latter showed clearly that to take on local government corruption did not need large resources, but it did depend on the courage and determination of a dedicated publisher/editor/reporter. This gives one considerable hope that this Cinderella sector is making its impact felt on the very important level of local journalism.

It was also notable that there were some very interesting exposes of the private sector. If the global financial crisis has taught us nothing else, it is that white collar crime needs much more attention from journalists the world over. The emphasis is still on government malfeasance, but the corporate sector featured this year more than ever before with a couple of entries from the Financial Mail.

The stores ranged from the mother of all scandals – the arms deal – through social investigations into issues like abortion, and small but important stories such as that of corruption at police stations. One of the most memorable moments was footage of a policeman caught on video trying to put his bribe – in the form of a live sheep – into the boot of a police car. He failed, but did manage to get it into the back seat.

The judges felt this year that stories were being presented more effectively. Investigations are often complex and obscure and the writers and editors have to tread sensitive legal paths. But they work best when they are given human angles, and when they are accompanied by effective graphics and other ways of explaining difficult stories. Many of the entries this year achieved this.

There was concern, as there is every year, with stories which relied heavily on unnamed sources and some judges felt that some journalists are still failing to give as much of a description of an anonymous source as possible. It is impossible for journalists to avoid all unidentified sources, but it is essential to give as many details of the source as one can to allow readers to judge credibility.

It became clear that any of the top five shortlisted stories were potential winners. Despite all the gloom about the state of the media and our journalism, there are pockets in which brave reporters, backed by serious and committed editors and producers, are ensuring that crooks and thieves in the state, public and private sectors, don’t sleep easily at night.

There are many who are quick to have a go at the media when we get it wrong, as we sometimes do. Wouldn’t it be nice if those same critics applaud those who got it right through blood, sweat and tears?

*This column first appeared in Business Day, 15 April 2009

Entry Filed under: Anton Harber, Journalism, Print, TV