Our history
Looking back at some key moments since the National Press Club started.
National Press Club turns 46 this year
On 12 July 1978, the Pretoria Press Club started with a handful of members. Today it is known as the National Press Club.
We honour outstanding work
Through the years the Newsmaker of the Year award, the registered intellectual property of the club, has become synonymous with the National Press Club.
National Press Club, "Globally aware - Locally relevant"
To survive in an increasingly competitive international environment, being globally aware and locally relevant makes good business sense. And this is exactly what the National Press Club is committed to. Founded as the Pretoria Press Club in 1978, the club has grown in leaps and bounds, both in stature and membership. The membership profile is represented by role-players in the entire spectrum of the communications field – journalists, news photographers and communication practitioners from our country’s diverse population groups – also from beyond Pretoria’s geographic borders. This compares favourably with the likes of other national press clubs in Washington, New Delhi, Australia and Canberra. National and global players now accept that the club has made itself relevant, not only in Gauteng but also nationally. News contributors know that they have a fair deal, even when criticised. In this way, the National Press Club has created a news communication platform of first choice with the relevance being transparency at all costs. The National Press Club aims for promotion and advocacy of freedom of expression and the media in support of the democracy of the Republic of South Africa by stimulating public, philosophical and democratic debate. The club also aims to promote the professional and social interests of its members in the media fraternity in support of the main aim listed above.