nzherald named NZ’s top news website

NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST BEFORE 9.30PM 9 MAY 2008

News release
9 May 2008

nzherald named NZ’s top news website and declared “the hands down winner”

For the second year running nzherald.co.nz has been named the Best News Website at the annual Qantas Media Awards. This tribute firmly establishes nzherald as the leading news site in New Zealand.

Jeremy Rees, nzherald’s online editor says receiving the Qantas Media Award again this year is a really special achievement for the team.

“This award clearly shows our ability to engage with readers in the latest news and views of the day.”

More New Zealanders get their news from nzherald than any other news site in the country. In April 2008 over 1 million Kiwi’s visited the site and read more than 35 million pages confirming its place as the number 1 destination for news.

“Last year we were recognised by the judges after undergoing a significant re-design and over the last 12 months we’ve been focusing our attention on continually improving the site to make it a better reader experience. This includes how we package our news content including photo galleries, video content and related stories so that readers can become even more immersed in the site – something that’s been a huge success.

Mr Rees says there has also been a continued increase in user-generated content through nzherald’s ‘Your Views’ columns and blogs.

“During the Rugby World Cup we were overwhelmed by the number of comments received from readers who wanted to get involved in the debate. We received more than 10,000 views, even when the All Blacks campaign came to an unexpected end.

Commenting on the nzherald.co.nz award, the Qantas Media Awards judges say the site wins hands down.

“News is broken on the site regularly and the site makes good use of updates throughout the day.”

In April nzherald was one of only 11 online newspaper websites to be awarded Official Honoree status at the internationally-acclaimed Webby Awards. In the same month nzherald also received recognition at the Hitwise Awards.

ENDS

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