Discovery announces health journalists taking top honours in the 2015 Discovery Health Journalism Awards

27 May 2015 – Discovery announced the Discovery Journalist of the Year as well as winners in each category of the 2015 Discovery Health Journalism Awards at a gala event tonight in Sandton.

“Journalists across the board play a custodial role in ensuring everyone is held accountable for how we as a society act. Health is a niche area of journalism and needs continuous investment. These awards aim to encourage health journalists to aspire to an even higher calibre of reporting”, said Dr Jonathan Broomberg, CEO of Discovery Health. “We hope to inspire journalists entering the industry to consider dedicating themselves to the important field of health journalism to the benefit of society,” he said commenting on the importance of these awards.

Taking this year’s top honours was Sipho Kings from Mail & Gaurdian. He walked away as Discovery Journalist of the Year and recipient of the R75 000 grand prize. Sipho’s entries impressed and he won in both the ‘Best investigative reporting’ and ‘Best Health News Reporting’ categories. Reviewing his entries, the independent judging panel said, “The articles submitted by Sipho Kings were well researched, well written and insightful. He demonstrated mastery of facts and evidence, use of multiple credible sources and produced an in-depth analysis which gave readers a full understanding of some of the effects of economic activities on health.”

Category winners in the 2015 Discovery Journalism Awards

Best investigative reporting, Best Health News Reporting and Discovery Journalist of the Year: Sipho Kings (Mail & Guardian)

Discovery Foundation Nation Builder Award: Carol Albertyn (MNET Carte Blanche)

Best Television Journalism: Jacqui Jayamaha (eNCA)

Best Radio Journalism: Paul McNally (WITS Radio Academy)

Best Consumer Reporting: Amy Green (Mail & Guardian)

Best Health Economics Journalism: Lynley Donnelly (Mail & Guardian)

Best Commentary and Analysis: Tamar Kahn and Andile Makholwa (Financial Mail)

Emerging Health Journalist: Chelsea Geach (Cape Argus)

“Health reporting plays a big part in giving different communities access to information that enables them to manage their health better from an informed standpoint. Along with a steady increase in entries, we’ve also seen a vast improvement in the quality of health reporting which is indicative of the value of awards like this in promoting quality reporting, said Professor Tawana Kupe, the convener of the panel for the Discovery Health Journalism Awards.

There were no finalist in the Best Healthy Lifestyle Feature category this year of which Professor Kupe said, “As a panel, we thought the quality of reporting in the healthy lifestyle category could be improved. We hope to see this in entries next year.”

The Discovery Health Journalism Awards also launched its new website at the gala event – www.discovery.co.za. The website will host winning stories from health journalists and provide all application forms, entry and category details for upcoming awards.

ENDS

For media queries contact Nozuko Basson on 011 529 1450 or email nozukob@discovery.co.za