2023 Voyager Media Awards showcase industry success

Celebrating excellence in the media industry, the 2023 Voyager Media Awards event took place on Saturday, May 27, unveiling winners across 65 awards.

The awards, organised into four categories; Print/Text Journalism, Broadcast and Digital, Photography, and All Media, brought together professionals from these fields in a glamourous black-tie affair held at The Great Room at Auckland’s Cordis hotel.

Guiding the evening’s festivities, which also marked the Media Award’s 50^th anniversary in Aotearoa, were Co-Hosts Petra Bagust and Mike Puru. Guests were also treated to a performance by Hollie Smith who captivated the audience with a rendition of the iconic ‘Slice of Heaven’ by Sir Dave Dobbyn.

Among the big winners on the night was Janine Fenwick of Stuff who was honoured with Editorial Leader of the Year award. Judges noted her energy and passion for delivering for audiences.

“She has led and inspired Stuff’s national newsroom to produce a daily roster of excellent, engaging journalism and content that has seen it become the number one website in the country. Janine is quite simply one of the best in the business in Aotearoa,” they said.

Stuff Chief Content Officer Joanna Norris said the awards demonstrate the strength of Stuff across the board with major awards for Stuff’s national, metropolitan and regional news products.

“We aim for journalistic excellence right across New Zealand and these awards show this commitment to all of Aotearoa pays off.

“To pick up awards for our national, metropolitan and regional journalism makes us so proud because it takes real grit to dig in for communities up and down the country. We really want to thank all of the New Zealanders we work with every day.”

NZ Herald took out the coveted title of Newspaper of the Year with judges praising its agenda-setting watchdog journalism and use of video and 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 judges also noted.

NZME Acting Managing Editor, Murray Kirkness, said the newsrooms victories 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 throughout the country. 

“To have won Best News Website for four consecutive years is incredible and an 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 tonight.”

Recognised for their exceptional skills, Chris Skelton of Stuff was named Photographer of the Year, and Baz Macdonald of Re: News took out Video Journalist of the Year.

Other notable winners included nzherald.co.nz for News Website of the Year, Stuff for News App of the Year, Pete McKenzie as Reporter of the Year, Tova O’Brien as Broadcast Reporter of the Year – News, and Kristin Hall as Broadcast Reporter of the Year – Current Affairs. 

TVNZ journalists were awarded eight wins in key categories, along with three runner up awards.

TVNZ Editorial Editor, Phil O’Sullivan said: “It’s been a huge year for our news and current affairs teams and it’s fantastic to see our journalists have their hard-work and commitment recognised by their peers. I’d like to congratulate TVNZ’s winners and finalists and thank them for the powerful reporting they have delivered to New Zealanders across the year.”

Brook Cameron, GM of the NPA which manages the Voyager Media Awards says:

“The News Publishers’ Association is honoured to bring the Voyager Media Awards season together each year. Tonight’s gala event, celebrating the best journalism from 2022 and 50 years of the awards, along with recognising the 125^thanniversary of the NPA, was a wonderful industry-wide celebration of independent, trusted, quality journalism.”

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