LiN Media’s efforts to uplift the profile of independently owned newspapers in the Limpopo Province culminated in the hosting of the group’s inaugural LiN Media Awards in Tzaneen the past weekend.

LiN Media was established not only to promote the interests of these newspapers, but also to uplift the standard of local journalism, amidst having to compete with conglomerates such as Caxton and Media 24. The Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror (Zoutnet) form part of this group of LiN publications, currently comprising nine publications. The other seven members are Bulletin (Tzaneen), Kruger2Canyon (Hoedspruit), Northern News (Mokopane and Lephalale), The Post (Bela-Bela) and The Beat (Bela-Bela), Die Kwêvoël (Thabazimbi) and Bushbuckridge News (Bushbuckridge).

The judging process was conducted by acclaimed professionals in die newspaper industry, including Dr Pedro Diederichs (retired), Fanie Groenewald (retired), Lizette Odendaal, Sholaine Govender-Bateman and Hilke Steenkamp (all from the Department of Journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology), as well as Gien Elsas (currently running the Caxton Cadet School). They had this to say, among other things, about the judging process: “We think you can be proud of the quality newspapers which all of you, from the most senior to the most junior reporters, sub-editors, lay-out artists, advertising and administrative staff, contribute to on a weekly basis. Your readers (and advertisers) are getting value for their money!”

The competition focussed on both advertising (production) and journalism, with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror scooping up awards in both sections.

In the advertising section, Zoutnet's Dallien Viljoen walked away with a third place in the category for Small Advertisements. Top honours in this category went to the team from The Post, while David Morrison from Bulletin was second. Dallien also took a second place in the category for Large Advertisements. Here, the winner was David Morrison, with third place going to Dolla Költzan (Northern News).

Both theZoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror did exceptionally well in the categories for Best Front Pages and Newspaper of the Year, with the Zoutpansberger winning the Best Front Pages section and Limpopo Mirror in second place. The Post took overall third position in this section.

In the Newspaper of the Year section, the Zoutpansberger was placed second overall behind The Post as winner. Here, the Limpopo Mirror was once again in the running, securing a third place. The Limpopo Mirror’s website was also voted the second-best website entered, with Die Kwêvoël walking away with first place. The Post was third in this category.

In the writing section, the Zoutpansberger secured two top-three finishes in the fiercely contested Hard News/Local Government Category, with Isabel Venter taking third place, Andries van Zyl coming second and Ingrid Pepler (The Post) first. Andries also came third in the Human Interest category. In this category, second place went to Valerie Celliers (Northern News) and first place once again to Ingrid.