WINNERS AND JUDGES' COMMENTS - Presented in May 2021 - PrintNZ
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Presented in May 2021 WINNERS AND JUDGES’ COMMENTS
BEST IDEA/INNOVATION
Judge: Kym Johnson
Winner: Times Media – Rural Living/South Flipbook and Howick & Pakuranga Times
Flipbook
With COVID lockdown placing a ban on publishing what a great idea the 'flip book'
was to communicate with advertisers and readers to all keep in touch. Some great
reads in a nicely presented idea that I am sure entertained many during lockdown.
Runner Up: Miller Media – Pohutakawa Coast Times Christmas Wrap
What a lovely way to end the year with some Christmas cheer.
BEST FEATURE/SUPPLEMENT
Judge: Viv Posselt
Winner: The Devonport Flagstaff – Destination Devonport
This plucky little supplement perfectly navigates Covid limitations on tourism,
cleverly keeping one eye on the hyper-local and the other on the upcoming
America’s Cup. The publication is fat with useful information for locals and visitors,
keen on the Cup or not. It has great retention value, in a format small enough to
tuck into a bag as a portable reference. A successful summer supplement, both for
readers and the money crunchers.
Runner Up: King Country News – In Our Defence, ANZAC
A beautifully presented supplement telling the stories of local Anzacs and their
families – informative, well-illustrated and easy to read. An annual supplement
committed to community, with a percentage of supplement profit returned to the
local RSA.BEST COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Judge: Mary Anne Gill
Winner: Gulf News and Waiheke Weekender
Nothing says community like this campaign. Headline writing on birds is a sub-
editor’s dream come true and gosh they were good. ‘Gentle giant shot from sky’,
‘Spotted shag survives dog attack’, ‘Rescuer over the moon’.
The photographs were amazing particularly the hauntingly beautiful shot of a native
hawk shot from the sky with an air rifle. It yelled out “help me”! And indeed,
somebody did to the tune of $60k. Brilliant result and outstanding community
involvement. Congratulations.
Runner Up: The Devonport Flagstaff
Now this is a newspaper worth supporting because of its support for its own
community. Its ‘Shop Local’ campaign was compelling, and woe betide any resident
who shopped anywhere else! It would be interesting to know whether its readers
did follow it online during the lockdown. I suspect not as many as the publisher
would have hoped and more reason for community newspapers to have been
essential services.
These are “cracking” good newspapers produced under the most testing
circumstances and a credit to Rob Drent and his team who really did walk the talk.
BEST GRAPHIC DESIGNER - ADVERTISING
Judge: Kym Johnson
Joint Clare McGillivray, Times Media/Claire Robertson, Times Media
Winners: Both designers display an outstanding flair for layout and graphic design in general.
Beautiful work with stylish touches and typography.
Runner Up: Michelle Lewis, Gulf News and Waiheke Weekender
Nicely presented advertising designs with well executed design briefs. Nice to read
the story/rationale behind the finished products.
Special Louise Taylor, Te Kowhai News
Mention: For her passion and dedication to her productBEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Judge: Kym Johnson
Winner: King Country News – Essential Services, Covid-19 Lockdown
An essential services feature was a go-to for many customers after lockdown –
nicely presented pages with a strong visual appearance making them stand out.
Runner Up: Metros Publishing Group - Metropol Magazine
Beautifully presented promotional campaign - essential post lockdown to reassure
advertisers their spend was well invested in a quality product/platform
BEST LIFESTYLE FEATURE WRITER
Judge: Viv Posselt
Winner: Erin Johnson, Gulf News and Waiheke Weekender
Erin stood out with her ‘History in the Making’ feature, an engaging in-depth piece
that made for a thumping read with an easy flow. Other pieces entered by Erin
demonstrated her ability to shift style to suit subject matter, keeping her writing
fresh and creative.
Runner Up: Charles Anderson, Nelson Magazine
Charles’ “Meet Nelson’s Place-maker” piece did a great job turning material that
can so often appear dry into an entertaining read spliced with hard-hitting newsy
tones.BEST SALES PROFESSIONAL
Judge: Janine Davy
Winner: Liz Cannon, Devonport Publishing
Liz has demonstrated resilience and a strong understanding of selling principles,
which has allowed all three publications within the Devonport Publishing stable to
have year on year growth or retain their 2019 position in an unpredictable and
competitive market, during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Liz’s strong customer relations and willingness to listen to the market and their
clients, enabled her to provide advice to her superiors which proved to be sound
based on the achieved results.
Solid client wins by doubling clients’ spend, implementation of new technology and
turning influential clients with high expectations who had indicated they were
walking away into commitment clients with increased year on year spend, through
innovative and creative advertising campaigns and new packages to market.
Runner Up: Tessa O’Shea, Gulf News and Waiheke Weekender
BEST HEADLINE
Judge: Roy Pilott
Winner: Bevan Wills, Wairarapa Times-Age
Bevan has a penchant for short and snappy headlines which catch the eye and are
clever. I particularly like “Going Gangbusters” and “Boom and Gloom”.
Runners Up: Paula Hulbert, Marlborough Weekly/Marlborough Magazine
Paula’s Gin is the Tonic and The Plating Game also showed great lateral thinking.
Jess Murray, Metropol Magazine
Jess’s work would grace any magazine in the country.
Judge’s Comment:
This is a highly subjective section and three different judges could easily come up with three
different results. Headlines are a hook to a story and many journalists have been indebted to
subeditors (or their equivalent) for topping off their work in style.BEST JUNIOR SPORTS JOURNALIST
Judge: Pete McNae
Winner: Kayla Hodge, Allied Press
A varied portfolio that scored highly in covering a range of news gathering styles.
Clearly, Kayla has built her contact network and worked that to her advantage to
find strongly readable angles, identified those angles and made sure they appeared
in the right place – in the introduction – to ensure there were ample hooks for
readers. Kayla’s piece on Eastern Southland harness racing was one of the few
“news” stories put forward for judging. Again, a very restrained use of quotes
allowed her own writing to shine through, never more so than on the Sir John
Kirwan piece, one of the strongest articles presented across either category.
Runner Up: Anneka Brown, Devonport Flagstaff and Rangitoto Observer
Anneka has clearly recognised that schools and clubs are the hub of a community
with one piece on a local 1ST XV rugby player following the path of his brother very
well assembled and presented. She has worked hard to unearth stories across a
number of sports and hasn’t allowed her work to be confined to the mainstream
with well-handled articles from athletics and basketball.
Judge’s Comment
Mature work from the Junior finalists, judicious use of quotes and a clear understanding of their
community. A year of Covid-related sports disruption meant journalists had to work beyond the
sidelines and there was strong lateral thinking in the news gathering and presentation shown by
these finalists. Both portfolios for the winner and the runner-up reflect journalists working
beyond their experience in the industry and I applaud them for the work submitted.BEST SENIOR SPORTS JOURNALIST
Judge: Peter McNae
Winner: Brayden Lindsay, The Beacon/Opotiki News
I’d turn to the sports pages of these publications first for Brayden’s work. Very well
connected in his community which is what these awards should reflect. His articles
have a flow and a tempo that pull the reader in and he allows the right amount of
personality to lighten and enhance the vital information. Again, a good range of
subject matter from Brayden’s region, not becoming tied to one style or sport.
Strong presentation with good use of illustrations and design features but the core
work is in the articles themselves. A hard call to separate any and all of the finalists
but Brayden’s work fulfils the brief of being readable community sports journalism
until the final full point.
Runner Up: Jon Rawlinson, Times Media, EastLife/South/Rural Living
Jon enjoyed the freedom of longer form magazine writing with well-told tales of
personalities and stories from his patch. There is also greater latitude with
language, meaning we were able to get more colour from his subjects than a
newspaper format might allow. One piece, on a local strongman, rated alongside
the John Kirwan article from the Junior section as the best individual “read ” in the
range of articles submitted. Layout and presentation also top notch.
Judge’s Comment
The entries were like comparing apples with oranges, with kiwifruit and strawberries. Each finalist
demonstrated strong use of contacts, leveraging a local network into sometimes quirky and non-
traditional sports writing in what was a non-traditional sporting year. Each of the finalists
approached sports journalism from a slightly different viewpoint, with a blend of hard news, long
form journalism, historical feature material and community profiles. It was tough to narrow the
field given the variety of styles but community news is well served.BEST JUNIOR NEWS JOURNALIST
Judge: Roy Pilott
Winner: Alisha Evans, Weekend Sun/Sunlive
Alisha produced a portfolio of stories from a wide range of areas and presented
engaging copy. Her stories about a man with a long moustache and a cat which
stole from neighbouring homes were very well presented. Her piece on a veteran
DJ retiring was excellent. She is on a learning curve, and I hope she continues to use
her skills to present strong news copy.
Runner Ups: MacKenzie Dyer, Weekend Sun/Sunlive
Charlotte Jones, The Beacon/Opotiki News
Judge’s Comment
All entries contained excellent subject matter and selecting the winners was a challenge.
Ultimately, I selected three journalists who produced engaging copy from a variety of subjects.
To all junior journalists, I encourage you to focus on your introductions and how you thread your
story to keep readers engaged. I frequently found introductions which had more than one angle,
and I was frustrated as a reader by the number of times the intro was not followed up in the next
three paragraphs.
Similarly, where you have people clashing, the story should not be presented in two halves – the
complainant followed by the response. Your challenge is to have the full story summed up in eight
paragraphs.
I would encourage you all to consider the lengths of your stories. I have always worked on the
basis that readers start to turn off after 300 words. Keep to the news rather than a step-by-step
historical account.
Finally, community newspapers and news are about people. A story’s credibility is devalued when
the author agrees to conceal the name of key playersBEST SENIOR NEWS JOURNALIST
Judge: Roy Pilott
Winner: Sven Carlsson, The Beacon/Opotiki News
Sven Carlsson’s portfolio stood out for the fact that he was breaking news stories,
and he wrote each one as if it was the most important national story of the day. His
Fence Creep story might have been a few years late being reported, but when he
got the story, he nailed it. He did the same with an issue over a harbour bar camera
and presented a broad look at a development saga with a strong news angle.
Runner Up: Charles Anderson, Nelson Weekly
Charles Anderson showed a nose for news by following up a story when he learned
about a man living out of a car. His portfolio was a good mix of news and human-
interest stories and his election night coverage was excellent. He was a very close
second.
Judge’s Comment
Last year I commented on the fact many stories were overwritten, and that was again a common,
if not universal issue. If you have a strong news story, remember less can be more. A common
theme with overwritten stories is that better angles are buried deep in the work. As with the
junior section, I also reiterate my comments from the 2019 awards about getting both sides of the
story and to shy away from running stories about people who are comfortable criticising a third
party – effectively asking the reporter to help toss a hand grenade - so long as their name is not
used.
BEST PHOTOGRAPHER
Judge: Ross Brown
Winner: Wayne Martin, Times Media
Wayne produced a professionally presented and comprehensive portfolio of
photos. His creativity and sensitivity produced some powerful images along with
some light hearted fun shots. From the sombreness of a funeral to the humour of
‘Elvis’ in the street, Wayne has clearly proven himself as a skilled professional news
photographer. His work is a credit to him and to the publications he works for.
Second: John Borren, Sun Media
John’s skilful use of lighting and composition creates some stunning images. He is a
true master of turning the ordinary into the visually interesting. His comprehensive
portfolio clearly demonstrates his ability to think outside the square and create
works of art as well as excellent illustrations of the event being covered.BEST FRONT PAGE - MAGAZINE
Judges: Tony Edwards and Shelley Wheeler
Winner: Life + Style
The covers were exceptional and really caught the eye. The Red Lounge Sessions
cover was beautifully designed and shot. The cover felt like a true representation
of the magazine’s content.
Runner Up: King Country Farmer
The Wrestling With Methane cover was another excellent cover. This simple cover
image had a huge impact – both cheeky and visually interesting.
BEST FRONT PAGE – NEWSPAPER
Judge: Doug Hendry
Winner: Wairarapa Midweek
The pages entered by the two Wairarapa papers had layouts that were designed to
go with their story, with thought put into every aspect of the presentation –
multiple headings of varying sizes, well-written intros in large type, clear cuts to get
around the problem of pictures that didn’t suit the layout, and a graphic if there
wasn’t a suitable picture.
The quality of a story can inspire a designer to lift the quality of the layout, and that
seems to have been the case here. How’s this for an opening sentence, written by
Lisa Urbani in a Midweek story about homelessness:
“Winter is coming” he said ominously, and when I saw the tents sheltering under a
tree, next to the river, I shivered in the autumn chill.
Community newspaper stories often deal with the prosaic, and can become prosaic,
but not in this case.
There’s no picture to go with the story, when the obvious thing would have been
the tents by the river. Instead there’s a graphic of homeless people, with the words
‘Wairarapa’s invisible people’ over the top, but with the word ‘invisible’ done with
only a dotted outline, making it easy to miss, just like the people in the story.
That combination of excellent writing and presentation made it the winner.Runner Up: Wairarapa Times-Age
The Times-Age’s strongest page gave the outcome of a high-profile court case.
Again, there was no strong picture to anchor the page so multiple elements –
headings, intro, logo, quote out and clear cuts of the defendants - had been used to
get around that.
However, the page was slightly weakened by having multiple gaps in the text,
caused by justified lines on a narrow measure, pushing words out to opposite ends
of a line.
BEST MAGAZINE
Judges: Tony Edwards and Shelley Wheeler
Winner: Rural Living Magazine
Rural Living really stood out in each of the criteria – from strong local content to the
level of photography in the stories and advertisements.
Runner Up: Waiheke WeekenderBEST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER - FRANK VEALE MEMORIAL AWARD
Judge: Doug Hendry
Winner: Oamaru Mail
The winner only got better the more closely I looked at its editions.
It won principally because of a weight and breadth of local coverage, some
outstanding photographs - and, overall, a lot of photos, well displayed - and
consistently good, uncluttered layout.
I also liked the clear demarcation between editorial and advertising features, not
only in the way each page was labelled, but also in using a sans serif font for
advertising-related copy, making it clear to readers which is which.
To win Newspaper of the Year one more thing is needed: a sympathetic ad stack,
allowing editorial staff a good canvas to present their work.
So, congratulations also to the advertising staff at the Mail for helping their
colleagues.
Runners Up: The Beacon
Wairarapa Midweek
Most of these remarks apply also to the two runners-up, Wairarapa Midweek and
the Whakatane Beacon. But they both also contain an excellent features section,
the Beacon giving a lot of space to local arts and running generously-sized previews
and reviews of music events.
The Beacon also has an outstanding promo box area beside their masthead, always
interesting and well laid-out, important for a paper which has a cover price.
Wairarapa Midweek’s Opinion, Extra and Lifestyle pages provide space for a variety
of voices and views, with large banners to differentiate from the news pages.
Judge’s Comment
This was very difficult to judge, partly because monthly, bi-weekly, weekly and daily papers are
being compared, and partly because so many of the entries were good.
After a lot of reading and re-reading I reduced the entries to six finalists, all of which are excellent
papers doing a great job of covering their area, giving their readers a good-looking and easy to
read publication.
In the end the decisions came down to very small margins and a bit of nitpicking, because that was
the only way to separate them.Negatives (and these were applied to every one of the editions submitted to the competition)
were: typos; multiple instances of bad hyphenation; captions that were hard to read because
they’d been placed on a picture; headings where one or two letters run on to a picture, and which
look as if they’re done because the heading didn’t fit, rather than as a deliberate effect.
Another negative related to press releases. Some press releases are of interest to readers at
length, many are improved if reduced to a brief or couple of paras, and some should never make it
into newsprint.
If one paper is using a press release on a rural, motoring or gardening page, and another is using
locally generated copy of more interest to readers, that was a plus for the latter.
Congratulations to all the entrants for making it so hard for me to separate them.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERSYou can also read
