NZ Herald wins big at the Voyager Media Awards 2023. Video / Supplied
It’s an awesome foursome! The NZ Herald has triumphed again at the annual Voyager Media Awards, winning Website of the Year for a record-extending fourth straight year and confirming its place as the home of premium journalism.
As well as claiming the biggest digital journalism accolade of the night, the NZ Herald was also crowned Metropolitan Newspaper of the Year and New Zealand’s overall Newspaper of the Year – alongside a swag of big prizes for individual Herald journalists.
The Herald has won the highly coveted Website of the Year award in 2020, 2021, 2022 and now 2023. Judges praised the Herald’s agenda-setting, watchdog journalism, great use of video and clear navigation across its digital site.
“The New Zealand Herald provides a confident model of boldly-displayed, high-quality journalism. By highlighting the human face of important issues, this newspaper creates a real connection with the readers and country it serves.”
The big wins extended to individual awards. Audrey Young was named political journalist of the year; Nicholas Jones won the prize for best individual investigation – for his work on New Zealand’s aged-care crisis – and Vaimoana Mase won the best opinion writing award.
Judges referred to Young’s portfolio – including an impactful interview with Louisa Wall and her insightful analysis of the Peter Ellis Supreme Court Case – as a masterclass; Jones was described as an “important voice in New Zealand journalism”; and Mase was proclaimed as a “fresh voice” with a different perspective.
Thomas Bywater won the Gordon McLauchlan Travel Journalism Award, with judges praising his unique voice across a range of platforms.
The Herald’s big winners also included Alex Spence (best social issues feature writer); Nicholas Jones again (best social issues reporter); and Jamie Morton (best science reporter). The Between Two Beers podcast stars Steven Holloway and Seamus Marten took home the prize for best original ongoing podcast.
From left: Between Two Beers podcast host Steven Holloway, NZ Herald travel editor Stephanie Holmes and investigative reporter Nicholas Jones.
The NZ Herald was also crowned Metropolitan Newspaper of the Year and New Zealand’s overall Newspaper of the Year
NZME’s BusinessDesk team were also among the winners, with Oliver Lewis winning the prize for best local government reporting.
NZME acting managing editor Murray Kirkness commended NZME’s newsrooms, saying the accolades reflected the business’s immense talent, commitment, and effort.
“The breadth of awards won, recognising both our individual talent and collective teamwork, speaks volumes about the calibre of people not only in our newsrooms but across the wider NZME team.
“To have won Website of the Year for four consecutive years is an incredible and amazing achievement. And it’s a huge accolade to see our daily newspaper celebrated as Voyager Newspaper of the Year, recognising the connection it generates with its readers. I’m really proud of what our teams have achieved,” says Kirkness.
NZME CEO Michael Boggs said he was proud of the team.
“Our journalists work extremely hard every day to keep Kiwis in the know, continually striving to provide the best quality news and journalism for our audiences.
“It’s excellent to see their results recognised in these awards. It’s also great to see NZME’s focus on digital transformation being recognised once again - winning Website of the Year for the fourth year running demonstrates the huge effort across the business to create a best in market digital product.”
Boggs also paid tribute to previous NZME Managing Editor Shayne Currie, who recently moved into a new role as NZME Editor at Large.
“Over the past seven years Shayne has led a high-performing, award-winning team and has done a fantastic job in driving digital transformation and integration across NZME’s platforms. His contribution to NZME has been and continues to be invaluable,” says Boggs.
NZME's chief digital and publishing officer Carolyn Luey and NZME acting managing editor Murray Kirkness at the 2023 INMA Global Media Awards, hosted in New York.
The NZ Herald has triumphed again at the annual Voyager Media Awards, winning Website of the Year for a record-extending fourth straight year.
The Herald took home the prize for Best Innovation in Newsroom Transformation, for the launch of the Te Rito journalism cadetship programme in partnership with Newshub, Whakaata Māori, Pacific Media Network and NZ on Air.
In other INMA award categories, NZME’s Ukraine Crisis Appeal fundraiser took out third place in Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign, its new VIVA Premium platform was second in Best Subscription Niche Product, and NZME received an honourable mention for Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales.
For the full list of Voyager Media Award winners, see here.
Meanwhile, BusinessDesk has announced the wife of late business commentator and Milford Asset Management co-founder Brian Gaynor has launched a $2 million fund to support business journalism in New Zealand. Anna Gibbons has announced a contestable $2 million endowment to develop business and economic journalists across the country, with applications set to open in August. The fund, launched by Brian Gaynor Initiatives, will support business and economics journalists, news projects, educational initiatives and investigative and research proposals.
The NZ Herald won Website of the Year for a record-extending fourth straight year at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
