Cape Argus a finalist for global award
THE CAPE Argus is among three Independent Media titles to have been named as finalists for the prestigious International News Media Association ( INMA) Awards 2016.
The Cape Argus was nominated among the top three in the category: “Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement”. Sister newspaper, the isiZulu publication Isolezwe in Durban has been nominated for “Best use of Mobile”, while Independent’s youngest division, Mojo – its mobile journalism unit – which celebrated its first anniversary last week, has been nominated in the category “Best use of Social Media” in the global or national brand group.
The Cape Argus entry centred around its #ShutItDown student collaborative edition, which focused on the #FeesMustFall and #EndOutsourcing student and worker campaigns.
The editor of the Cape Argus, Gasant Abarder, ceded 50 percent of his editorial control to students involved in protest against tuition fee increases. The student co-editors produced five news pages and two opinion pages, including an editorial, and had complete control over story selection, picture selection, headlines and captions.
On being shortlisted, Abarder said: “The credit is due to the student co-editors who so professionally represented their peers in this edition of the Cape Argus. We are humbled to be named finalists in this prestigious awards and to be recognised globally by our peers.”
Isolezwe’s shortlisting is thanks to its “Asidlale” (We play together) campaign, which focused on growing the circulation of a vernacular daily newspaper in a world where print is challenged by digital. The Mojo unit was shortlisted thanks to its use of social media platforms as storytelling tools to complement the existing print titles.
Last year, Independent Media won INMA’s Global Innovation Award for Best in Africa.