KEY POINTS:
The Herald website has been named the best news website in New Zealand at the annual Qantas Media Awards overnight.
The site has now won the top honour for the last two years, with the judge saying nzherald.co.nz won "hands down".
The win was part of a big night for the Herald and its sister APN Publications.
The Herald on Sunday was judged the best newspaper in the country, taking both the award for best newspaper and best weekly newspaper.
The New Zealand Herald also won both best daily newspaper (circ over 25,000) and best front page.
Two of its quality inserted magazines - canvas and The Friday Business Herald - won best newspaper magazine and best newspaper business section. The Travel section on a Tuesday won best section for the fourth year in a row.
The Aucklander (West) won for best community newspaper and the New Zealand Listener was awarded the prize for best newstand Magazine for the second year running.
The Qantas awards are in their 35th year and are selected by a panel of judges from both New Zealand and overseas with expert knowledge of the media industry.
Commenting on the nzherald.co.nz award, the Qantas Media Awards judges say the site wins hands down.
"News is broken on the site regularly and the site makes good use of updates throughout the day."
Jeremy Rees, nzherald's online editor, says receiving the Qantas Media Award again this year "clearly shows our ability to engage with readers in the latest news and views of the day.
"Last year we were recognised by the judges after undergoing a significant re-design and over the last 12 months we've been focusing our attention on continually improving the site to make it a better reader experience. This includes how we package our news content including photo galleries, video content and related stories so that readers can become more immersed in the site."
There has also been a continued increase in user-generated content through nzherald's 'Your Views' columns and blogs.
- NZ HERALD STAFF