Grocott’s Mail Online came out tops in the corporate category of the 2009 SABC Highway Africa New Media Awards held during the Absa Africa Night Dinner at the 1820 Settlers Monument on Monday night.
Grocott’s Mail Online came out tops in the corporate category of the 2009 SABC Highway Africa New Media Awards held during the Absa Africa Night Dinner at the 1820 Settlers Monument on Monday night.
The corporate category recognised African corporate groups for creative and appropriate adaptation of technologies to compete effectively in the online environment.
“Grocott’s Mail Online in its new form is still very young – it was only launched on July 2 – so we’re very chuffed to have received such a significant pat on the back so early on,” said Michael Salzwedel, New Media Editor at Grocott’s Mail and editor of Grocott’s Online.
“One of the aims of Grocott’s Online is to fully embrace the idea and practice of citizen journalism. We do this by providing an area – MyStory – on the website where anyone can submit their own content, whether words, photos or video clips. Grocott’s Online also receives and publishes SMSes and MMSes from citizens.”
On Tuesday 8 September the Grocott’s Mail Citizen Journalism Newsroom was launched; this is a free facility where ordinary citizens from the Grahamstown community can get assistance with creating and publishing their own stories, pictures and video clips.
"Grocott’s Mail Online aims to actively encourage citizen journalism and thereby give a platform to all the people of Grahamstown to express their voices about issues that matter to them and their communities," said Salzwedel.
"Winning this award will hopefully act as a catalyst and take the site from strength to strength. I’m hoping that it will help to grow Grocott’s Online as a powerful platform that the people of Grahamstown can use to inform and be informed”.
