Applications for a unique award fostering critical journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand are closing soon.

The Bruce Jesson Journalism Award, unlike any other journalism award in this country, provides up to $4000 up-front to fund the time and resources required to produce journalistic work.

The work can be in any format but must be “critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing which will contribute to public debate in New Zealand on an important issue or issues”.

The award, established in 2004, has helped some of the country’s leading freelance journalists such as Nicky Hager, Rebecca Macfie and Max Rashbrooke to write books and articles on critical social issues.

Last year’s award, for the first time, went to a mainstream media organisation with a grant to Stuff’s Northland reporter Denise Piper and photographer Jason Dorday to part-fund an investigation into whether we are doing enough to save our kauri trees from kauri dieback. Bruce Jesson Foundation co-chairs Maria Armoudian and Simon Collins said the grant reflected the dramatic changes that the internet has brought to the news media, forcing even commercial media to rely increasingly on public and donated funds to keep serious public journalism alive.

The foundation, founded in memory of Auckland journalist and writer Bruce Jesson who died in 1999, also offers an award of up to $1000 for published work by a New Zealand journalism student nominated by a journalism programme leader. This work must also be “critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing which will contribute to public debate in New Zealand on an important issue or issues”.

Applications for both of this year’s awards are now open and close on Friday 2 September.

About Bruce Jesson

Bruce Jesson (1944-1999) grew up in Christchurch and earned a law degree at Canterbury University, but was never admitted to the Bar because he refused to swear allegiance to the British queen.

He never trained as a journalist but wrote and edited some of the most original, important and challenging journalism in New Zealand in The Republican, which he published on a hand-to-mouth basis from 1974 to 1995, as a columnist for Metro magazine, and in a series of books including The Fletcher Challenge: Wealth and Power in New Zealand (1980), Behind the Mirror Glass: The Growth of Wealth and Power in New Zealand in the Eighties (1987) and Only Their Purpose is Mad: The Money Men Take Over New Zealand (1999). Some of his collected writings were published posthumously in To Build a Nation, edited by Professor Andrew Sharp, in 2005.

He was elected to the Auckland Regional Council as an Alliance candidate in 1991 and chaired the Auckland Regional Services Trust from 1992 to 1995, keeping key assets such as the Auckland port in public ownership in the face of massive pressure by the National Government of the time to privatise them.

About the Bruce Jesson Foundation

The Bruce Jesson Foundation was incorporated in 2001 “to promote activities designed to generate critical, informed, analytical and creative contributions to political debate in New Zealand and about New Zealand”. Its first chair was former Prime Minister David Lange.

It holds an annual lecture at Auckland University on current issues in the media and society, and since 2004 it has given an annual award to advance-fund “a work of critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing which will contribute to public debate in New Zealand on an important issue or issues”.

Previous awards have gone to: Nicky Hager (2004); Tina McIvor (2004); Jon Stephenson (2005); Amie Richardson (2006); Peter Malcouronne (2007); Keith Mexsom (2008); Dr Chris Harris (2010); Max Rashbrooke (2011 and 2014); Rebecca Macfie (2012); Alister Barry (2013); Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones (2015); Catriona MacLennan (2015); Aaron Smale (2018); and Denise Piper and Jason Dorday (2021).

Since 2009 the Foundation has also offered an annual award of up to $1500 for published work by a student journalist.

The Bruce Jesson Foundation acknowledges the support from a gift by the Grace Memorial Trust in memory of Diana Unwin.

Further details: www.brucejesson.com

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