Date Released: November 23rd 2022
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Younger writers were the big winners on the night at the fifth edition of the NZSA Business Journalism Awards, held last night in Auckland, with three of the five awards going to younger journalists Oliver Lewis, Murray Jones and Riley Kennedy.
Experienced journalists Dita de Boni and Tim Hunter rounded out the winners circle, with Tim Hunter awarded as the 2022 NZ Business Journalist of the Year.
Proudly hosted by the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association (NZSA) and generously supported by Simplicity, the awards showcase the best of New Zealand Business Journalism. Prizes were awarded in four categories, with an additional award for the NZ Business Journalist of the Year.
New Zealand’s business journalists ensure that the investing public is informed and businesses, and their key personnel, are held accountable for their actions and to their stakeholders. This is particularly relevant as the number of investors in New Zealand has grown significantly over the last few years through KiwiSaver and low-cost share-trading platforms.
In this context, while NZSA has witnessed something of a rebirth of business journalism over the last few years, there is more to do. Oliver Mander, NZ Shareholders’ Association CEO noted that “While the overall number of entries was similar to last year, some media organisations, including Stuff, were not represented.”
“NZSA does not believe that business journalism is something that should be contained to a rarefied few – all involved in the industry, including NZSA, need to work harder to improve awareness and engagement in investment topics that are relevant to millions of Kiwis.”
Finalists and Winners
Business News
- Oliver Lewis, BusinessDesk WINNER
New Christchurch stadium report raises ‘critical issues’, budget concerns
- Hamish McNicoll, National Business Review
DGL boss: ugly boards make the best IPOs
- Maria Slade, National Business Review
Owners of worthless apartments take action against lawyers
The judges were impressed by the obvious leg-work of Oliver Lewis, who had been persistent in sourcing information and speaking to a range of parties.
Business Commentary
- Dita de Boni, National Business Review, WINNER
Aussies provide poor model of aged care management
- Tim Hunter, National Business Review
A conflict of interest at the FMA
- Pattrick Smellie, BusinessDesk
Why the government took Kiwibank back
The judges believed that the article provided relevance for investors, given the scale of the retirement and aged care sector in New Zealand, and provided evidence of a cautionary tale that could be expanded to an impact on New Zealand.
Business Features
- Tim Hunter, National Business Review, WINNER
A trail of guaranteed disaster
- Kate McVicar, National Business Review
Orba Shoes: here for a good time, not a long time?
The judges chose to announce joint winners of this category, from a high standard of entries. All finalists demonstrated strong commitment to doing their own research and ‘digging’ to provide a fair and accurate picture for readers. As always, the ability to create a simple story for readers from a web of complexity weighed heavily into the judges decisions.
Young Business Journalist:
Riley Kennedy, BusinessDesk
This was a close-run decision but the judges were particularly impressed by Riley Kennedy’s pieces on a bad loan given by Callaghan Innovation, as well as his piece on 2nd tier lender, Bizcap.
Business Journalist of the Year Award
Tim Hunter, National Business Review
Tim submitted a number of strong entries across categories. He was a finalist and winner in two of them and his other entries were also of a very high quality.
Judges
Three independent judges, Louise Nicholson, Gyles Beckford and Jenni McManus, volunteered their journalism and business expertise to read and evaluate around 60 entries into the Awards.
Louise Nicholson
Louise has most recently worked as the Director of External Communications and Investor Capability at the Financial Markets Authority. She is a former journalist who worked in New Zealand and Australia before moving into a range of communications roles in New Zealand, Australia and Asia.
Gyles Beckford
Gyles has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including stints with provincial newspapers, a ministerial press secretary, a long stint as local bureau chief for Reuters news agency. He has over 20 years reporting on everything business, investment, economics and commerce. He has worked with Radio New Zealand, presented on Morning Report, participated in the RNZ-Newsroom “Two Cents Worth” podcast, and sis member of the combined RNZ-TVNZ unit that reported on the Panama Papers.
Jenni McManus
Jenni has nearly 40 years’ experience as a financial journalist, editor and newspaper owner. In 1991, she and the late Warren Berryman founded The Independent Business Weekly, an award-winning publication with a strong focus on investigative journalism. She is a winner of more than 21 journalism awards, including the Citibank award and Senior Reporter of the Year at the 1997 Qantas awards. She has ghost-written two books, In the Arena (with Diane Foreman) and A Woman’s Place (with Joan Withers) and taught the ATI journalism course from 1983-1986. She is currently the editor of LawNews, a weekly magazine published by the Auckland District Law Society, and does some freelance work.
Photos
Event photos are available on NZSA’s website.
Looking ahead to 2023
The 2023 Business Journalism Awards will be back in full force in early November 2023. Entries are expected to close in late September 2023.
NZSA is also hosting the Beacon Awards on 17 February 2023 at the Northern Club, Auckland. This award honours one individual in the New Zealand business community who demonstrates leadership, bravery and respect while championing equitable outcomes, outstanding governance and all shareholders. The NZSA Investor Conference, supported by NZX, will be held the next day at Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland.
Tickets for all events will shortly be available at www.nzshareholders.co.nz