Eleven prizes for Stuff at Voyager Media Awards
Friday, 16 May 2025
Stuff Group took 11 of the country’s top journalism prizes in Friday night’s 2025 Voyager Media Awards, including the coveted Digital News Provider of the Year, which was accepted by Stuff.co.nz’s editor-in-chief Keith Lynch, who also won Editorial Leader of the Year.
In a ceremony with fewer prizes and a strong showing from some smaller, specialist news providers, Stuff’s experienced and investigative writers dominated many reporting categories, including Political Writer of the Year for The Post’s Andrea Vance; Best Investigation and Best Scoop categories for Stuff journalist Steve Kilgallon; Photographer of the Year (The Press’ Iain McGregor); Cartoonist of the Year (Sharon Murdoch, The Post and The Press) and Feature Writer of the Year (Charlie Mitchell, The Press).
Best Feature Photography was won by Chris Skelton of The Press, Best Junior Feature Writer was Maddy Croad, also of The Press, and best specialist reporting was won by Sam Sherwood from his time at Stuff.
NZME won several news print awards, including Regional Newspaper of the Year (Hawke’s Bay Today); Weekly Newspaper of the Year and Voyager Newspaper of the Year (Herald on Sunday). The New Zealand Herald’s Michael Morrah won News Journalist of the Year.
The Otago Daily Times took out Metropolitan Newspaper of the Year and won Best Editorial Campaign for its fight for the future of Dunedin Hospital, among other awards.
It is the second year in a row that Stuff has won Digital News Provider for stuff.co.nz – the country’s largest New Zealand website, which is read by 2.19 million Kiwis each month.
Lynch, as editor-in-chief, oversaw the launch last July of Stuff’s new ThreeNews 6pm broadcast for Warner Bros Discovery, and delivered innovative new live sports partnerships over the year, including 24/7 coverage of the America’s Cup.
Stuff owner and publisher Sinead Boucher said New Zealand media organisations continued to deliver impactful journalism that told unique Kiwi stories, something global social media platforms can never replace.
“We know how strong the appetite for great New Zealand journalism is, and what we saw with all of the winners was a commitment to local storytelling that is critical to life in New Zealand,” Boucher said.
“This can only be achieved with the support of our commercial partners, subscribers and supporters – they ensure that we can continue to deliver journalism that has a tangible impact on the lives of all New Zealanders.”
Kilgallon’s strong investigative portfolio included his series on former Green MP Darleen Tana, who was forced to resign after allegations she was aware of migrant exploitation at her husband’s business.
Vance, who is the national affairs editor and a columnist for The Post and Sunday Star-Times, was awarded for a hardhitting investigative portfolio, with the award judges saying: “Andrea has an unerring ability to land impactful, political scoops year after year that effect real change, often at the highest level.”
Notable among smaller media organisation wins was Newsroom being awarded Business Journalist of the Year (Jonathan Milne); New Zealand Geographic winning Best News, Current Affairs or Specialist publication; Gulf News being awarded Community Newspaper of the Year and The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus winning Best Columnist, Opinion or Critique.
The full list of winners:
Best Photography: Features Chris Skelton, Stuff
Best Photography: News Stephen Jaquiery, Otago Daily Times
Best Photography: Sport Hannah Peters, Getty Images
Best Photo Story: Richard Robinson, New Zealand Geographic
Photographer of the Year: Iain McGregor, The Press/Stuff
Best Innovation in Digital Storytelling: Whenua: NZ Herald/NZME
Best (shortform) Video: Michael Craig, NZ Herald/NZME
Best Current Affairs (short): Children of Prisoners, TVNZ
Best Current Affairs/Documentary: Myths & Maidens, Coconet TV+RNZ
Best Original Podcast: Powder Keg newsroom.co.nz
Video Journalist of the Year: Zoe Madden-Smith, Re: News/TVNZ
Digital News Provider of the Year: Stuff
Best Columnist, Opinion or Critique: Joel MacManus The Spinoff
Best Up and Coming Journalist: Bonnie Jansen NZ Herald/NZME
Best Investigation: Steve Kilgallon, Stuff
Best Scoop: Steve Kilgallon, Stuff
Best Specialist Reporting: Sam Sherwood, Stuff
Best Coverage of a Major News Event: Polkinghorne murder trial, NZ Herald/NZME
Best Editorial Campaign: Our Health is Priceless, Otago Daily Times
Le Mana Pacific Award: Indira Stewart, TVNZ
Te Tohu Kairangi Award: Te Aniwa Hurihanganui, 1News/TVNZ
Cartoonist/Animator of the Year: Sharon Murdoch The Post and The Press/Stuff
Sports Journalist of the Year: Dana Johannsen, RNZ
Business Journalist of the Year: Jonathan Milne, newsroom.co.nz
Gordon McLauchlan Journalism Award: Kim Knight, NZ Herald/NZME
Local Journalist of the Year: Matthew Littlewood, Otago Daily Times
News Journalist of the Year: Michael Morrah, NZ Herald/NZME
Political Journalist of the Year: Andrea Vance, The Post/Stuff
Editorial Leader of the Year: Keith Lynch, Stuff
Best News, Current Affairs or Specialist Publication: New Zealand Geographic
Best Newspaper Magazine: VIVA/NZME
Junior Feature Writer of the Year: Maddy Croad, The Press/Stuff
Feature Writer of the Year: Charlie Mitchell, The Press/Stuff
Reporter of the Year: Anusha Bradley, RNZ
Community Newspaper of the Year: Gulf News, Pendragon Press
Regional Newspaper of the Year: Hawke’s Bay Today, NZME
Weekly Newspaper of the Year: Herald on Sunday, NZME
Metropolitan Newspaper of the Year: Otago Daily Times, Allied Press
Voyager Newspaper of the Year: Herald on Sunday, NZME