GEORGE NEWS - The George Herald online team, under the leadership of Tanya Watson, has scooped the prestigious Best Online Presence award at the national Caxton Awards - for the second year running!
The winners were announced last week Thursday, 10 September, during a virtual ceremony. Watson, Group Editors online editor, and her team, Dot Symons, Beatrice Esterhuysen and Wessel van Heerden, brought home the trophy as reward for their captivating George Herald platforms.
The judges lauded the online team for how the brand is carried out digitally, and the relevant use of local imagery on www.georgeherald.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Overall online growth and the value the online platforms bring to advertisers secured George Herald’s position as the front runner. The marketing team was praised for making excellent use of the stunning platforms to get the best exposure for advertising clients.
“The online team is so proud to have won this award for a second time,” said Watson. “We work so well together, and are happy that we play a major role in building a brand we can be proud of!”
The awards were announced last week Thursday, 10 September, during a virtual ceremony.
Excellence must be in the genes, as another Group Editors employee who secured the number one spot in his category is Watson’s very own dad, Hannes Visser, the editor of Oudtshoorn Courant. Visser walked off with the Best Regular Column award for his Oppie Stoep columns for Oudtshoorn Courant.
They are also available as a blog on all the Group Editors websites. Visser, a published poet whose book Die jaar toe pa… was received with much critical acclaim, was praised for his insightful localised perspectives and concise writing style. The judges said he is in touch with his readers and “clearly knows when to whisper and when to shout”. Visser was moved by his win.
“When writing columns one exposes oneself, because you can hardly write about something which is not personal. Columnists, like poets, expose themselves to their readers,” he said.
Oudtshoorn Courant editor Hannes Visser
Talent galore Many of Group Editors’ journalists, designers and publications were finalists in the various categories. George Herald journalist Kristy Kolberg was runner-up in the category Multimedia Journalist of the Year and in the top five for Impact Story of the Year with her reporting on the Voëlklip tragedy.
Her colleague at George Herald, Michelle Pienaar, was selected as one of six finalists for the prestigious category Multimedia Journalist of the Year, and both Kolberg and Pienaar received one of the top spots in the category Best Hard News Photo. George Herald sport editor Hugo Redelinghuys was one of six finalists in the Best Sport Writing category and two of his photos were finalists for Best Sport Photo.
Wessel van Heerden of AutoDealer was among the six finalists for the category Photographer of the Year. Group Editors graphic designer Luretha Cronjé was one of seven finalists in the Ad Designer of the Year category. On top of this, George Herald editor Lizette da Silva received a place in the top five for Best Sold Newspaper of the Year.
Group Editors management congratulated all the staff who made it to the finals.
“This year the Caxton Awards has changed significantly, but did not take anything away from the efforts that were done to get nominated and awarded,” said Group Editors’ sales and marketing director, Servaas de Kock
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