Massey students take out major journalism prize

Massey Journalism students take out major investigative journalism prize

A team of six Massey Journalism students are the inaugural winners of a $500 award for outstanding investigative journalism written by students.

The Bruce Jesson Emerging Journalism Prize went to Michael Dickison, Amanda Fisher, Motoko Kakubayashi, Rory MacKinnon, Sarah Taane, and Chloe Vaughan.

They published a series of articles in the Wairarapa Times-Age breaking the news that Masterton residents living on a former gasworks site were unaware the site was contaminated with cancer-causing toxins.

Professor Jane Kelsey, chair of the Bruce Jesson Foundation, said the students’ material included a “well-written human interest story told from the point of view of a nearby resident whose children regularly played on the contaminated soil, alongside extensive expert commentary about potential risks”.

Wairarapa Times-Age editor Dave Saunders said it represented “probably the finest group effort I've seen in nearly 20 years of hosting students as an editor”.

The students studied on Massey’s Graduate Diploma in Journalism at Wellington in 2009.

“It was an incredibly worthwhile experience,” Amanda said. “It added an extra dimension to our year at Massey.”

The investigation, which involved three months of investigation and fact checking, was overseen by Massey Journalism lecturer James Hollings.

Most of the students are now working in journalism in New Zealand. Michael is a reporter for The New Zealand Herald’s website, Amanda is a reporter at The Dominion Post, Rory is at the Scoop website, and Chloe is at The News in Westport. Motoko is at the Science Media Centre of Japan, attached to Waseda University in Tokyo, and Sarah is travelling overseas.

The Bruce Jesson Emerging Journalism Prize was named in memory of political journalist Bruce Jesson. The prize was judged by the journalism subcommittee of the Bruce Jesson Foundation, comprising journalists and journalism academics.

ENDS

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