Former Northern News Kuils River/Brackenfell/Kraaifontein (KBK) reporter/sub-editor Lauren O’Connor-May, was among the five staff members of Cape Community Newspapers (CCN), which publishes Northern News KBK and its 14 sister titles, who were finalists in the 2018 Forum for Community Journalists annual Excellence Awards. About 130 journalists representing more than 80 local newspapers, in all nine provinces, entered this year. The judges said their general impression was that the local newspapers were still very much alive in South Africa and serving their communities well. In the hard news category, in which CCN had four finalists, the judges noted that they had received a strong selection of entries, with many strong, hard-hitting stories, most of which were about crime and service delivery problems. In the human interest category, in which CCN had one finalist and one honourable mention, the judges noted that “local newspapers are synonymous with human interest stories”. Ms O’Connor-May is pictured at the award ceremony held in Centurion over the weekend.