2009 ASPA Awards results

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AOTEAROA STUDENT PRESS ASSOCIATION (ASPA)

2009 ASPA Awards results

September 13, 2009

The following are the placegetters and winners of the 2009 ASPA Awards, held in Wellington on September 12, 2009.

Best Website

Third: In Unison

Second: Salient

First: Craccum

Dompost.co.nz web editor Patrick Crewdson said Craccum’s homepage was the most visually-appealing of the sites and included bonus features which weren’t in the print edition.

Best Headline

Second equal: In Unison, with “Exploiting Excessive Empathy as a Form of Recession Relief in Three Easy Steps (Or: How I made a fake charity, and used it to buy myself some Chicken McNuggets)”, and Gyro, with “Trousers lowered, awareness raised”.

First: Critic with “Students spitroasted at CoC fight”.

Listener staff reporter Sarah Barnett said it was a great pun that showed Critic knew its audience, and was relevant to its audience without being forced.

Best Cartoonist

Third equal: Michael Leung of Canta and Valentine Watkins of Craccum

First equal: Robyn Kenealy of Salient and Maria Brett of Critic

Cartoonist and illustrator Dylan Horrocks said Robyn Kenealy’s cartoons had distinctive personal drawing with a lot of  character, and Robyn’s had “all kinds of smarts going on just below the surface”.

 
Editorial cartoonist Jim Hubbard said Maria Brett’s cartoons were an impressive comic book style, with a good use of angle, movement and perspective.

Best Original Photography

Third: Matt Jenkinson of Canta

Second: Erin Gaffney of In Unison

First: Clinton Cardozo of Debate

The judges said Clinton’s concert photos captured the moment, and they liked his use of black and white photography.

Best Sports Writer

Second equal: Adam Howard of Salient and Ian McDonald of In Unison

First: Brad Kreft of Critic

NZPA deputy news editor Greg Tourelle said Brad Kreft’s column on the pain of encountering elderly golfers was easily the best entry in the category:  “Delightfully dry, it was well written, with the clever pullback from the cynical ageism just at the right time.”

Best Education Series

Third: Helen De Reus and Ben Thomson of Critic

Second: Sarah Robson of Salient

First: Joshua Drummond of Nexus

A judge said Nexus’ coverage of the van Leeuwen affair was an engaging investigation of issues that lie at the core of what a university is, or ought to be. It showed what student media is capable of, with some tenacious digging.

Best Humour Content

Third: Ryan Boyd of Debate

Second: Jeremy Bryson of Chaff

First: Joseph Harper of In Unison

TV personality Jeremy Wells said Jospeh Harper’s piece on the lameness of charity was particularly clever piece on charity and its lameness, an “original idea, well constructed linguistically and graphically.”

Best Reviewer

Third equal: Uther Dean of Salient and Daniel Copeland of Gyro

Second: Antony Parnell of Nexus

First: Joseph Harper of In Unison

Music reviewer and blogger Simon Sweetman said Joseph’s entries stood out amongst the rest. He writes like a reviewer rather than a blogger, with a good level of opinion and information

Best Columnist

Third: Michael Langdon of Salient

First equal: Dr Love of Magneto and Liz Willoughby-Martin of Critic

Public Address news columnist Russell Brown said Dr Love wasn’t the only column this year to adpot a humorous persona, but it was easily the most successful. It’s a good blend of dry wit and useful information about things the reader might actually want to know.

Scoop co-editor Alastair Thompson said Liz's column is entertaining, charming and occasionally funny as well as being informative and beautifully crafted - a natural columnist with a consistently good product.

Best Cover

Third: Craccum

Second: Satellite

First: Salient

Metro magazine art director Charlie McKay said Salient’s covers could easily live on his coffee table. Salient used typography in an interesting way and had a current visual style.

Best Editorial Writer

Third: Matthew Harnett and Valentine Watkins of Craccum

Second: Jackson Wood of Salient

First: Ryan Boyd of Debate

Dominion Post editor Bernadette Courtney said “Ryan's editorials are quirky but hit you between the eyes immediately. They made me sit up and take notice and read on and on. Ryan's writing is tight, imaginative and funny. He has a bright future.”

Best Feature Writer

Third equal: Anthonie Tonnon of Critic and Rosabel Tan of Craccum

Second: Stacey Knott of In Unison

First: Sarah Robson of Salient
Asia New Zealand foundation media adviser Charles Mabbett said Sarah’s articles were of a very high journalistic standard, well-researched and well-written, and she was the most consistent entrant.

Best News Writer (Unpaid)

Third: Stephen Smith of Debate

Second: Nicholas Mark of In Unison

First: Jessy Edwards of Salient

The judges said Jessy’s story on bums bumming around Victoria University showed confident writing, while her other stories had genuine new value and were well-written.

Best News Writer (Paid)

Third: Aimee Gulliver of Critic

Second: Michael Oliver of Salient

First: Stacey Knott of In Unison
 
Blogger, freelance writer and former Salient news editor Keith Ng said Stacey was the clear cut winner, and her ability to engage with her subjects made her stories outstanding.

Best Feature Content

Second equal: Joshua Drummond of Nexus and Matt Russell of Chaff

First: Nina Fowler of Salient

Investigative journalist Nicky Hager said Nina’s article on the political crisis in Fiji was "a thoughtful and skillful examination of a subject where the mainstream media have spectacularly failed the public ... her work is an excellent example of journalism explaining the news.”

Best Design

Second equal: Magneto and Salient

First: Chaff

Former Salient designer Chris Elder said Chaff used its larger format well, an interesting and reader-oriented design and excellent technical execution of newsprint to keep everything legible.

Best Small Publication

Third: In Unison

Second: Gyro

First: Magneto

 Journalist and media commentator Denis Welch said Magneto was easily the best small publication, for its bold design and high production standards, its good ideas and great attitude. It had the best sense of humour, including some brilliant satire, and it has begun to deliver on its aim of ‘becoming the most kick-ass student publication in the land'.

Best Publication

Third: Critic

The judges said it was a very polished publication with consistent and well-written content.

Second: Craccum

The judges said it had varied coverage, a consistently high standard of writing and interviewing, and was committed to political issues and university matters.

First: Salient

The judges said Salient is chock full of good reading from start to finish. It is intelligent, irreverent and packed with attitude and personality without being up itself, with good news and features, and endless content.

ENDS

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