National Press Club Opens 2025 Journalist of the Year Awards: Aserie Ndlovu Award and Campus Radio Award Unveiled. UNISA Joins Adjudication Panel as Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi Named 2025 Newsmaker of the Year.
Pretoria — The National Press Club today opened entries for the 2025 Journalist of the Year Competition, unveiling The Aserie Ndlovu Award for Community Journalism and a new Campus Radio Award in honour of slain community journalist Sibusiso ‘Aserie’ Ndlovu.
The announcement was made at a media briefing at the Court Classique Suite Hotel in Arcadia, Pretoria, almost one year after Ndlovu was laid to rest. Winners will be honoured at the NPC’s annual black-tie Newsmaker of the Year Gala on 29 May 2026 in Pretoria, where Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi will be recognised as the 2025 Newsmaker of the Year.
Antoinette Slabbert, Chairperson of the National Press Club, said:
“When Aserie went missing last year, it was journalists and newsrooms across this country who refused to let him disappear. They kept his name in headlines, on air, and on our front pages. That pressure mattered. That solidarity mattered. Today, we make that solidarity permanent.
Aserie was a community journalist, an active member of the African Media and Communicators Forum and served on the National Press Club executive. He believed the story from Soshanguve was as important as the one from Parliament. Community media is not ‘small’ media. It is where democracy is defended street by street, story by story. When Aserie was murdered, a community lost its witness. Naming this award after him is how we honour his legacy: we fund the beat he died for, and we ensure it never goes dark again.
If we do not protect journalism where it is born, in campus studios with broken mics and fearless questions; we do not have an Aserie tomorrow. The new Campus Radio Award tells student newsrooms: your work is journalism. Your voice counts. Your courage will be funded. From community, to campus, to country; we grow the whole profession, in his name. We appeal to journalists, photographers, presenters, producers and media liaison officers to enter the competition.”
The NPC proudly partners with the University of South Africa in presenting these awards. Our collaboration began sixteen years ago when we jointly hosted the annual Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture — a partnership founded on defending media freedom, advancing critical thought and amplifying the plurality of voices in South Africa.
Professor Puleng LenkaBula, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, UNISA, said:
“A free and fearless press is not a luxury of democracy. It is the condition upon which democracy depends. UNISA stands with the National Press Club to honour those who tell the truth, hold power to account and give voice to communities from campus newsrooms to national platforms. This year, we deepen that commitment by availing some of our leading academics to serve alongside industry veterans on the adjudication panel, ensuring the highest standard of scrutiny, scholarship and sectoral insight. That is a legacy worth defending and a future worth building.”
Entries will be adjudicated by a panel of industry experts and academics.
2025 COMPETITION CATEGORIES
The competition consists of 12 categories covering print, digital, broadcast and community media. Work should be published between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
PRINT AND ONLINE MEDIA
Category 1: News
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of not more than five news articles.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Attach clearly legible PDF documents of articles or insert the URL of the published story.
Category 2: Features / Investigative Journalism
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of not more than three features/investigative pieces.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Attach clearly legible PDF documents of articles or insert the URL of the published story.
Category 3: Photojournalism
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of not more than five photographs.
- The photos must be submitted as a PDF or high-resolution JPEG files (at least 300DPI/PPI).
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Attach PDF documents or insert the URL of the published photographs.
RADIO
Category 4: Radio News
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of not more than five news items.
- All the items should be a maximum of 90 seconds (1,5 minutes) each.
- Attach the recording as an MP3 and supply a written script as it was broadcast.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
Category 5: Radio Features / Investigative / Actuality
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of not more than three pieces.
- All the items should be a maximum of 30 minutes each.
- Attach the recording as an MP3 and supply a written script as it was broadcast.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
TELEVISION
Category 6: TV News
Prize money: R30 000
Enter a portfolio of not more than five news items.
- All items should be a maximum of five minutes each.
- Upload a copy of the broadcast to YouTube and add the link to the entry form.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
Category 7: TV In-depth / Features
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of not more than three pieces.
- All items should be a maximum of one hour each (preferably 30 minutes).
- Upload a copy of the recording on YouTube and submit the link on your entry form.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
Category 8: TV Cameraperson
Prize money: R30 000
- Enter a portfolio of one piece of up to 30 minutes insert OR three pieces of up to 10 minutes each insert.
- Upload a copy/copies of the broadcast to YouTube and add the link to the entry form.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY JOURNALISM
Category 9: Aserie Ndlovu Award for Community Journalism: Print / Online
Prize money: R30 000
- This category is for journalists working at community publications (excluding mainstream publications).
- Enter a portfolio of not more than five news articles.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Attach clearly legible PDF documents of articles or insert the URL of the published story.
Category 10: Aserie Ndlovu Award for Community Journalism: Radio – News / Features / Investigative
Prize money: R30 000
- This category is for journalists working at community radio stations (excluding mainstream radio stations).
- Enter a portfolio of not more than five news items.
- All the items should be a maximum of six minutes each.
- Attach the recording as an MP3 and supply a written script as it was broadcast.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
Category 11: Campus Radio – News / Current Affairs / Features
- This category is for journalists working at campus radio stations.
- Enter a portfolio of not more than five news items.
- All the items should be a maximum of six minutes each.
- Attach the recording as an MP3 and supply a written script as it was broadcast.
- Write a 200-word motivation for your entry (on the entry form).
- Upload a letter from an editor to confirm the date of broadcast.
Category 12: Media Liaison Officer / Communications Officer/ Spokesperson
Prize money: R30 000
- In this category, you can either enter yourself or nominate someone else.
- Enter a portfolio of work (one or more projects).
- Give a minimum of five references.
- Write a 500-word motivation to motivate your entry (on the entry form).
An overall winner will be selected from Categories 1-11. The Unisa – National Press Club Overall Journalist of the Year will win R100 000.
Closing date: 8 May 2026 at 24:00
Eligibility to enter
Categories 1-12: Entrants must be National Press Club members, with paid-up membership for 2026.
The membership is R300 per person.
Verify your membership status: secretariat@nationalpressclub.co.za.
Categories 1-11: Individuals must enter their own work.
Category 12: Entrants can enter their own work or be nominated by someone.
Technical requirements
- All entries must be submitted electronically.
- Entrants must confirm it is their own work and agree to it being used for publicity.
- Non-English entries must include an English translation plus the original published work.
- Individuals may enter for as many categories as they want to.
- Please provide a PDF for content that is behind a paywall.
How to enter: