Unisa’s publication team brings prestigious awards home

In the curveball Covid-19 year, Unisa’s publications team in the Department Institutional Advancement played ball and brought home no fewer than eight South African Publication Forum (SAPF) Excellence Awards! Moreover, YOUNISA magazine was crowned winner in the Best Publication with a Smaller Budget category.

Editor of YOUNISA, Phillip van der Merwe, says: “The award recognises the great contributions we receive from Unisans across the board, be they students, alumni, staff journalists or college communicators.”

Two publications, Focus staff newsletter and YOUNISA magazine for alumni, students and friends of Unisa, were entered into the prestigious competition where they competed against publications from big corporates with deep pockets who often outsource to large media houses. The aim of the SAPF Excellence Awards is to analyse the state of the corporate publications industry through its annual publication competition and to recognise and reward excellence.  The annual SAPF Excellence Awards ceremony was hosted as a virtual event on 11 November 2020.

Entries were adjudicated in 16 categories by a panel of seasoned professionals. Besides scooping the award as Best Publication with a Smaller Budget, YOUNISA also was a finalist in the following categories: best external publication; best corporate publication; best cover and best design. The publication also receive a certificate of excellence in communication. Focus was second runner-up in the category Best Cover and received a certificate for excellence in writing.

Says Dr Lusani Netshitomboni, Acting Director of Marketing, Communication and Events: “The SAPF Excellence Awards competition provided an excellent opportunity to benchmark Unisa’s internal staff newsletter and external magazine against the industry’s best publications, and they did us proud! The feedback received from the adjudication panel is invaluable and serves to confirm what we have done well and guide us on where we can improve.”

Tshimangadzo Mphaphuli, editor of the Focus issue entered, says: “We are young, black, talented and there’s no stopping us! The recognition adds to the validation we already hold within us. I’m extremely proud of this achievement and can’t wait to kick some more *#*# censored* *insert smirk emoji*”

To this, managing editor in the directorate, Nancy-Anne Anderson, adds: “The awards speak of great teamwork and commitment. Especially during what has been a disruptive year, the publications team managed to stay focused and continued to come up with creative ideas. In the next year, the team’s resourcefulness and agility will be put to the test even more, but I am confident they will continue to produce award-winning communication in whichever form or shape is needed”.