WestpacTrust Bus. And Financial Journalism Awards

Winners Named In WestpacTrust Business And Financial Journalism Awards

Jenni McManus, Business Editor of The Independent, has taken out the top honours in the WestpacTrust Business and Financial Journalism Awards 2000, winning the Print News Award and the Overall Winner’s Award.

Jenni’s winning work was an investigative news series on a loans scam, which ran in September and December 1999. The winners each receive a prize of $1500 plus another $1500 for the overall winner.

Other category winners were:

Print Feature Award Tim Wilson of Metro Print Columnist Award Jake Pearce of Unlimited Electronic Media Award John MacDonald of Radio New Zealand

The awards were judged by Jim Tully, the head of Canterbury University’s Mass Communication and Journalism Department, and Sue Suckling, a board member of WestpacTrust Investments Limited and the New Zealand Dairy Board.

Mr Tully said: “This year’s competition saw increased entries and an improved standard, particularly in the Print News section, which made judging very hard. It is reassuring that there is a lot of good analytical business writing going on.

“We believe the WestpacTrust Business and Financial Journalism Awards serve an important function in recognising excellence and encouraging higher standards in an area of journalism where there is a vital need for quality reporting and intelligent analysis,” Mr Tully said. Commenting on the winners, Mr Tully said: “Jenni McManus’s entry on a state house loan scam was a good example of a strong, breaking story reported with a strong sense of immediacy yet in depth. Rod Oram and Aimee McClinchy were highly commended.

“Jake Pearce’s columns stood out because they were interesting but also provocative and readable.” Bob Edlin was highly commended.

“Covering business on radio is not easy but John MacDonald followed through a story on the end to native logging on the West Coast in a comprehensive way that covered a range of angles.

“Tim Wilson’s entry on an international phone rip-off was very well written, well researched and a lively and fluent read – it was nice blend of good content and writing. David McLoughlin and Deborah Coddington were highly commended.”

WestpacTrust public relations manager Jane Anderson said: “I’m very happy about the qualitay of the winning entries and the of the entries overall. This shows that the public is well served by New Zealand business and financial journalism. We created the WestpacTrust Business and Financial Journalism Awards because we want to encourage excellence in business and financial journalism and it’s good to see the industry supporting the awards with increased entries. The worlds of business and finance impact on all of us, whether it is news about business developments, interest rates, the sharemarket or exchange rates. And quality journalism is important to our customers, who rely on the media for much of their information.”

ENDS

For further information, please call Jane Anderson WestpacTrust Public Relations Manager 04 498 1657 025 502 325

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