Awards are an odd element of the media industry. Mostly, they’re fairly inane attempts at self-congratulation in an exposed world usually defined by criticism and devoid of external affirmation. But in recent years, I’ve entered into a few, reached the finals of some, and won a handful of others.

In my first year founding and manning News24’s Disinformation Desk, I won two regional Vodacom Journalist of the Year awards for two very different disinformation topics, one exposing an international fake news network based in India, and another for a body of work fact-checking disinformation spread about South Africa.

In 2026, I was a finalist for two other works in the disinformation space. One at the Media24 Excellence Awards, and another at the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Digital Media Awards. Both nominated articles exposed fake news rings again operating out of India.

Vodacom Journalist of the Year 2024

Winner: Innovation in Journalism (Regional Award)
Opening salvoes in online price wars

Vodacom Journalist of the Year 2025

Winner: Innovation in Journalism (Regional Award)
Web of deceit: How we traced India's 'Raju Singh' behind SA's viral fake news sites

Winner: Politics (Regional Award)
Body of work: "Half-truths, out-of-context claims"

Media24 Excellence Awards

Finalist: Innovation in AI/technology
Web of deceit: How we traced India's 'Raju Singh' behind SA's viral fake news sites

World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Digital Media Awards

Finalist: Best in Countering Disinformation
Exposed: The Fake News Factory