Wellington And Dunedin Big Winners At ASPA Awards

Wellington And Dunedin Big Winners At ASPA Awards

Magazines from Wellington and Dunedin were the big winners at this year’s Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA) Awards in association with the NZ Listener, presented in Auckland on Friday night.

Victoria University’s Salient and Otago University’s Critic won five awards each, with ‘Best Publication’ going to Salient. Auckland University’s Craccum won two awards. Magneto, from Massey Wellington, and Nexus, from Waikato University, won one award each.

The awards were decided by 38 high-calibre judges, including media professionals, academics, and student press veterans. Judges included Metro editor Nicola Legat, TV3’s John Campbell, Jim Tully of the University of Canterbury’s journalism school, indie legend Chris Knox, and New Zealand Herald senior feature writer Michele Hewitson.

The Awards ceremony was hosted by television personality Mary Lambie and featured performances by rock acts Devil Gate Drive and Daisy Chain Halo and a speech from Listener Deputy Editor Tim Watkin.

The eleven publications below entered the awards, representing all of New Zealand’s universities, except for Massey University’s Palmerston North Campus (whose magazine, Chaff, did not enter). Some publications did not enter all the categories.

1. Caclin, Lincoln University

2. Canta, Canterbury University

3. Craccum, Auckland University

4. Critic, Otago University

5. Debate, Auckland University of Technology

6. gYRo, Otago Polytechnic

7. InUnison, Unitec

8. Magneto, Massey University Wellington Campus

9. Nexus, Waikato University

10. Salient, Victoria University

11. Satellite, Massey University Albany Campus

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Barnett, Salient editor, 04 463 6767

Hamish McKenzie, Critic editor, 021 2269382

Patrick Crewdson, Awards convenor, 021 1306355

FULL RESULTS AND SELECTED JUDGES’ COMMENTS FOLLOW:
Best publication

Judged by Metro editor Nicola Legat, Listener columnist and blogger Russell Brown, former Debate editor Nadine Metzger, Scoop.co.nz co-editor Selwyn Manning, and former Nexus editor Ant Hiron.

1. Salient 2. Critic 3. Craccum

Nicola Legat said Salient was, “Witty while also being relatively serious minded.”

Nadine Metzger said of Salient, “All three issues showed outstanding consistency in quality of subject matter, columns, design and editorial.”

Russell Brown said, “Salient has a particular strength in its news section, which is crisp, relevant and sets the tone for the rest of the magazine. Its reporters have shown themselves able to not only to break stories but to develop them over time.”

Selwyn Manning said, “Salient is a commanding publication that is clearly in touch with the Wellington student scene.”

Ant Hiron said, “I've always thought Salient was the leader of the pack in terms of student mags and these three prove it for me.”

Best designed publication

Judged by AUT journalism lecturer Allan Lee, former Critic editor Brent McIntyre, and Pavement editor Bernard D McDonald.

1. Magneto 2. = Critic, Craccum, Debate, and Salient

Bernard McDonald said Magneto was, “One of the most readable publications, though it’s also one of the more boring to look at.”

Allan Lee said Magneto had, “clean, well organised layouts driven by words and content.”

Brent McIntyre said, “Magneto can teach the other editorial teams a bit about keeping the gloss up and the word counts down.”

Best editorial writer

Judged by Mediawatch commentator Tom Frewen, former Listener editor Finlay MacDonald, and former Salient editor Mike Beggs.

1. Sarah Barnett, Salient 2. Hamish McKenzie, Critic 3.= Carl Watkins, Nexus; Hannah Jennings-Voykovich, Craccum

Tom Frewen said, “Sarah Barnett was outstanding. Has enviable natural writing talent – or works hard at it – either way achieves impressive pace and fluency.”

Finlay MacDonald said, “I chose winners who avoided the ritual slagging of ‘mainstream media’ and got on with expressing themselves in a nicely personalised, chatty and idiosyncratic style.”

Mike Beggs said, “In terms of wit and writing style, Sarah is way in front.”

Best feature writer – profiles

Judged by North & South editor Robyn Langwell, former Chaff editor Sapphira van Assema, and Listener deputy editor Tim Watkin.

1. Hamish McKenzie, Critic 2. Dan Trevarthen, Satellite 3. Alexander Bisley, Salient

Tim Watkin said Hamish chose, “Good topics that were timely and of relevance to his readers.”

Robyn Langwell said, “Hamish writes fluently, knows how to pick an interesting angle and has a deft ability to let his stories flow along nicely.”

Sapphira van Assema said, “If this is the standard of student journalism, then it's bloody good.”

Best feature writer - issues

Judged by NZ Herald reporter and former City Voice editor Simon Collins, investigative journalist and author Nicky Hager, and former Craccum editor John Marshall.

1. = Alec Hutchison, Craccum; James Robinson, Salient 3. Rebecca Williams, Debate

Simon Collins said of Alec’s ‘Nightmare on Queen St’ article, “This is an absolutely outstanding piece! After plodding through some of the other stories, this one got me excited!”

Nicky Hager said of James Robinson: “Thoughtful, intelligent and well researched and written. I hope he goes far in journalism.”

Best Maori content

Judged by Derek Fox of Mana Maori Media, Annabel Schuler of the Waiariki Institute of Technology journalism school, and Maori Television Service staffer and former Critic kaiwhakapaoho Zoe Linsell.

1. Brett Ellison, Critic

Derek Fox said, “He identified significant issues arising in the category and by and large approached the stories well and covered salient points.”

Annabel Schuler said, “Good work Critic. You may be in the deep south but you are more onto it than most!”

Zoe Linsell said, “I particularly liked 'The truth about Maori scholarships'. I wish the mainstream media would publish something of this calibre on the same topic.”

Best news writer - paid

Judged by University of Canterbury journalism school head Jim Tully, Dominion Post education reporter Michelle Quirke, and former Salient editor Max Rashbrooke.

1. Keith Ng, Salient 2. Holly Walker, Critic 3. Dan Trevarthen, Satellite

Michelle Quirke said, “Keith's work shone. The stories were relevant to Victoria students and newsworthy, focused on interesting issues and were well written by comparison to other entrants.”

Max Rashbrooke said of Keith Ng’s story ‘DomPost Outs Murderer at Vic’: “This is an excellent story, and is probably the most sophisticated and intellectually comprehensive one that I saw.”

Best news writer - volunteer

Judged by AUT journalism lecturer Deborah Telford, former Salient editor Nikki Burrows and TV3 presenter John Campbell.

1. Kate Newton, Critic 2. Geoff Brischke, Salient 3. Duncan Wilson, Canta

Deborah Telford said, “Kate shows with her ‘Buttman’ stories that she has the potential to be a good investigative reporter and that the skills to follow through stories.”

Nikki Burrows said, “Kate's writing is very good. It's straight up, facts and figures presented clearly and with no fuss.”

John Campbell said, “Thoroughly nice work on Buttman... impressively wry and understated (almost matter of fact) tone.

Best Cartoonist

Judged by Dharma Punks author Ant Sang, cartoonist and former Salient designer Toby Morris, and indie legend Chris Knox.

1. Tim Molloy, Craccum 2. Colin Andrews, Critic 3. Scott Bevan and Kent Earle, Debate

Ant Sang called Tim Molloy’s cartoon Mr Unpronounceable “odd, trippy, beautifully drawn”.

Toby Morris said, “Tim Molloy is the standout because he not only understands the medium but pushes it and makes it his own.”

Chris Knox said, “Once he learns how to spell cemetery he'll be home and hosed.”

Best Reviewer

Judged by NZ Herald senior feature writer Michele Hewitson, poet and reviewer David Eggleton, and former Critic editor Gavin Bertram.

1. Emily Braunstein, Salient 2. Kelly Pendergrast, Critic 3. Dawn Tuffery, Nexus David Eggleton said, “A good review is crafted like a mini work-of-art.”

Gavin Bertram said Emily Braunstein, “Displayed a great knowledge of/insight into the subject, and the deeper themes and devices used.”

Best Cover

Judged by Metro art director Jenny Nichols, Western Institute of Technology journalism school head Jim Tucker, and the Listener’s Steve Braunias.

1. = Critic, Nexus 3. Craccum

Jenny Nichols said of Nexus, “This sophisticated, unconventional designer seems to enjoy the collision of meaning with visual and aesthetic impact, the essence of graphic design.”

Steve Braunias said of Critic, “Here is a magazine which shows an admirable sense of stupidity. It knows that a student magazine needn't appeal to taste or some dreary idea of current affairs; that working for it should be fun, a chance to do whatever the fuck it wants.”

Best columnist

Judged by National Business Review media columnist David Cohen, editor of NZ Political Review and former Critic editor Chris Trotter, and Channel Z host and former Craccum editor Martyn Bradbury, AKA Bomber.

1. Ryan Brown-Haysom, Critic 2. Zaeem Baksh, Nexus 3. Chris Currie and Amanda Kennedy, Craccum

Chris Trotter said, “Ryan's pieces provide a good example of the columnist's art: they are brief, pithy and (God bless him) witty.”

David Cohen said, “Ryan Brown-Haysom's portfolio of ‘Media Vuelta!’ columns from Critic made me laugh out loud: his post-Qantas Media Awards piece, in particular, … has a refreshingly light touch and buckets of cool attitude.”

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