Wellington And Dunedin Big Winners At ASPA Awards
Magazines from Wellington and Dunedin were the big winners at this year’s Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA)
Awards in association with the NZ Listener, presented in Auckland on Friday night.
Victoria University’s Salient and Otago University’s Critic won five awards each, with ‘Best Publication’ going to
Salient. Auckland University’s Craccum won two awards. Magneto, from Massey Wellington, and Nexus, from Waikato
University, won one award each.
The awards were decided by 38 high-calibre judges, including media professionals, academics, and student press veterans.
Judges included Metro editor Nicola Legat, TV3’s John Campbell, Jim Tully of the University of Canterbury’s journalism
school, indie legend Chris Knox, and New Zealand Herald senior feature writer Michele Hewitson.
The Awards ceremony was hosted by television personality Mary Lambie and featured performances by rock acts Devil Gate
Drive and Daisy Chain Halo and a speech from Listener Deputy Editor Tim Watkin.
The eleven publications below entered the awards, representing all of New Zealand’s universities, except for Massey
University’s Palmerston North Campus (whose magazine, Chaff, did not enter). Some publications did not enter all the
categories.
1. Caclin, Lincoln University
2. Canta, Canterbury University
3. Craccum, Auckland University
4. Critic, Otago University
5. Debate, Auckland University of Technology
6. gYRo, Otago Polytechnic
7. InUnison, Unitec
8. Magneto, Massey University Wellington Campus
9. Nexus, Waikato University
10. Salient, Victoria University
11. Satellite, Massey University Albany Campus
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Barnett, Salient editor, 04 463 6767
Hamish McKenzie, Critic editor, 021 2269382
Patrick Crewdson, Awards convenor, 021 1306355
FULL RESULTS AND SELECTED JUDGES’ COMMENTS FOLLOW:
Best publication
Judged by Metro editor Nicola Legat, Listener columnist and blogger Russell Brown, former Debate editor Nadine Metzger,
Scoop.co.nz co-editor Selwyn Manning, and former Nexus editor Ant Hiron.
1. Salient 2. Critic 3. Craccum
Nicola Legat said Salient was, “Witty while also being relatively serious minded.”
Nadine Metzger said of Salient, “All three issues showed outstanding consistency in quality of subject matter, columns,
design and editorial.”
Russell Brown said, “Salient has a particular strength in its news section, which is crisp, relevant and sets the tone
for the rest of the magazine. Its reporters have shown themselves able to not only to break stories but to develop them
over time.”
Selwyn Manning said, “Salient is a commanding publication that is clearly in touch with the Wellington student scene.”
Ant Hiron said, “I've always thought Salient was the leader of the pack in terms of student mags and these three prove
it for me.”
Best designed publication
Judged by AUT journalism lecturer Allan Lee, former Critic editor Brent McIntyre, and Pavement editor Bernard D
McDonald.
1. Magneto 2. = Critic, Craccum, Debate, and Salient
Bernard McDonald said Magneto was, “One of the most readable publications, though it’s also one of the more boring to
look at.”
Allan Lee said Magneto had, “clean, well organised layouts driven by words and content.”
Brent McIntyre said, “Magneto can teach the other editorial teams a bit about keeping the gloss up and the word counts
down.”
Best editorial writer
Judged by Mediawatch commentator Tom Frewen, former Listener editor Finlay MacDonald, and former Salient editor Mike
Beggs.
1. Sarah Barnett, Salient 2. Hamish McKenzie, Critic 3.= Carl Watkins, Nexus; Hannah Jennings-Voykovich, Craccum
Tom Frewen said, “Sarah Barnett was outstanding. Has enviable natural writing talent – or works hard at it – either way
achieves impressive pace and fluency.”
Finlay MacDonald said, “I chose winners who avoided the ritual slagging of ‘mainstream media’ and got on with expressing
themselves in a nicely personalised, chatty and idiosyncratic style.”
Mike Beggs said, “In terms of wit and writing style, Sarah is way in front.”
Best feature writer – profiles
Judged by North & South editor Robyn Langwell, former Chaff editor Sapphira van Assema, and Listener deputy editor Tim Watkin.
1. Hamish McKenzie, Critic 2. Dan Trevarthen, Satellite 3. Alexander Bisley, Salient
Tim Watkin said Hamish chose, “Good topics that were timely and of relevance to his readers.”
Robyn Langwell said, “Hamish writes fluently, knows how to pick an interesting angle and has a deft ability to let his
stories flow along nicely.”
Sapphira van Assema said, “If this is the standard of student journalism, then it's bloody good.”
Best feature writer - issues
Judged by NZ Herald reporter and former City Voice editor Simon Collins, investigative journalist and author Nicky
Hager, and former Craccum editor John Marshall.
1. = Alec Hutchison, Craccum; James Robinson, Salient 3. Rebecca Williams, Debate
Simon Collins said of Alec’s ‘Nightmare on Queen St’ article, “This is an absolutely outstanding piece! After plodding
through some of the other stories, this one got me excited!”
Nicky Hager said of James Robinson: “Thoughtful, intelligent and well researched and written. I hope he goes far in
journalism.”
Best Maori content
Judged by Derek Fox of Mana Maori Media, Annabel Schuler of the Waiariki Institute of Technology journalism school, and
Maori Television Service staffer and former Critic kaiwhakapaoho Zoe Linsell.
1. Brett Ellison, Critic
Derek Fox said, “He identified significant issues arising in the category and by and large approached the stories well
and covered salient points.”
Annabel Schuler said, “Good work Critic. You may be in the deep south but you are more onto it than most!”
Zoe Linsell said, “I particularly liked 'The truth about Maori scholarships'. I wish the mainstream media would publish
something of this calibre on the same topic.”
Best news writer - paid
Judged by University of Canterbury journalism school head Jim Tully, Dominion Post education reporter Michelle Quirke,
and former Salient editor Max Rashbrooke.
1. Keith Ng, Salient 2. Holly Walker, Critic 3. Dan Trevarthen, Satellite
Michelle Quirke said, “Keith's work shone. The stories were relevant to Victoria students and newsworthy, focused on
interesting issues and were well written by comparison to other entrants.”
Max Rashbrooke said of Keith Ng’s story ‘DomPost Outs Murderer at Vic’: “This is an excellent story, and is probably the
most sophisticated and intellectually comprehensive one that I saw.”
Best news writer - volunteer
Judged by AUT journalism lecturer Deborah Telford, former Salient editor Nikki Burrows and TV3 presenter John Campbell.
1. Kate Newton, Critic 2. Geoff Brischke, Salient 3. Duncan Wilson, Canta
Deborah Telford said, “Kate shows with her ‘Buttman’ stories that she has the potential to be a good investigative
reporter and that the skills to follow through stories.”
Nikki Burrows said, “Kate's writing is very good. It's straight up, facts and figures presented clearly and with no
fuss.”
John Campbell said, “Thoroughly nice work on Buttman... impressively wry and understated (almost matter of fact) tone.
Best Cartoonist
Judged by Dharma Punks author Ant Sang, cartoonist and former Salient designer Toby Morris, and indie legend Chris Knox.
1. Tim Molloy, Craccum 2. Colin Andrews, Critic 3. Scott Bevan and Kent Earle, Debate
Ant Sang called Tim Molloy’s cartoon Mr Unpronounceable “odd, trippy, beautifully drawn”.
Toby Morris said, “Tim Molloy is the standout because he not only understands the medium but pushes it and makes it his
own.”
Chris Knox said, “Once he learns how to spell cemetery he'll be home and hosed.”
Best Reviewer
Judged by NZ Herald senior feature writer Michele Hewitson, poet and reviewer David Eggleton, and former Critic editor
Gavin Bertram.
1. Emily Braunstein, Salient 2. Kelly Pendergrast, Critic 3. Dawn Tuffery, Nexus David Eggleton said, “A good review is
crafted like a mini work-of-art.”
Gavin Bertram said Emily Braunstein, “Displayed a great knowledge of/insight into the subject, and the deeper themes and
devices used.”
Best Cover
Judged by Metro art director Jenny Nichols, Western Institute of Technology journalism school head Jim Tucker, and the
Listener’s Steve Braunias.
1. = Critic, Nexus 3. Craccum
Jenny Nichols said of Nexus, “This sophisticated, unconventional designer seems to enjoy the collision of meaning with
visual and aesthetic impact, the essence of graphic design.”
Steve Braunias said of Critic, “Here is a magazine which shows an admirable sense of stupidity. It knows that a student
magazine needn't appeal to taste or some dreary idea of current affairs; that working for it should be fun, a chance to
do whatever the fuck it wants.”
Best columnist
Judged by National Business Review media columnist David Cohen, editor of NZ Political Review and former Critic editor
Chris Trotter, and Channel Z host and former Craccum editor Martyn Bradbury, AKA Bomber.
1. Ryan Brown-Haysom, Critic 2. Zaeem Baksh, Nexus 3. Chris Currie and Amanda Kennedy, Craccum
Chris Trotter said, “Ryan's pieces provide a good example of the columnist's art: they are brief, pithy and (God bless
him) witty.”
David Cohen said, “Ryan Brown-Haysom's portfolio of ‘Media Vuelta!’ columns from Critic made me laugh out loud: his
post-Qantas Media Awards piece, in particular, … has a refreshingly light touch and buckets of cool attitude.”