Don't expect too many South African journalists or entries from South Africa for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2012.
Virtually nobody in South Africa knows about it since neither CNN nor MultiChoice bothered to let anyone in South Africa know.
With time running out with journalists to enter (only 57 days today) it's been interesting for me to track the last while how countries from Nigeria to Tanzania and elsewhere have stories about the awards calls for entries. It's probable that local MultiChoice offices there issued some kind of information - possible press releases and call to entries.
South Africa? Nothing. Of course South Africa's publications who are big press release regurgitating operations with lots of journalists who write only (and only when) they get a press release and mostly just run it as they get it, didn't get anything and are therefore not doing anything.
And you'll have to look much harder to find stories about the award ceremony and winners of 2011 than previous years, since that was also markedly down from the coverage the competition got in previous years.
Usually by now there would not only have been a call to entry press pack with full details coming from both CNN International as well as MultiChoice for the new competition, but multiple follow-up press releases and information regarding judges, and the award ceremony as part of a stacking approach to grow and build interest in entries. Not a single thing so far this year as far as I'm aware for South Africa.
Why CNN International and MultiChoice South Africa isn't really doing anything to tell people about the 2012 I don't know; just notable that less energy seems to be put into it that what used to be the case in the past.
The result? My guess would be for a lot fewer entries from South Africa this year, with less (if not nothing) done by whoever is supposed to be actually promoting this thing. And of course press that care less.
