Melanie Reid won Newsroom the podcast of the year award for the third consecutive time – and ex-1News political editor Maiki Sherman was named political journalist of the year – at the NZ Media Awards on Friday night.
Reid’s first season of the podcast Diagnosis of a Crime, investigating mis-attribution of injuries to children, was saluted by the judges of the best original podcast or series “as a superb example of exceptional journalism. Meticulous reporting and production made this a clear stand-out.”
She and her team, including Bonnie Sumner, Dave Filoiali’i and Judith Curran working as Newsroom Investigates and funded by NZ on Air, won the title in 2024 for the acclaimed Boy in the Water podcast. Last year, Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne won the same award for his international investigation Powder Keg.
Reid told the awards function in Auckland the support of NZ on Air was vital not only in making her team’s work possible, but in “changing the state of New Zealand.”
“If it wasn’t for NZ on Air, there would be a whole stack of families who would have no access to justice.”
The Diagnosis of a Crime series is part of a years-long investigation by Reid and Sumner into cases of families facing prosecution and jail for alleged child abuse because of incorrect diagnosis of fractures and other injuries. The Newsroom investigation has involved eminent international experts who have challenged the findings in the cases from medics at Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital.
Newsroom’s podcast series are available on the Delve platform and Season 2 of Diagnosis of a Crime following a prosecution and High Court case of a professional athlete is currently being rolled out. You can listen and subscribe here.
The podcast description: “Reid, a multi award-winning Newsroom investigations editor, and her team, have gone to extraordinary lengths to have international experts independently review the same x-rays, imaging and medical files used to build the case against the young dad.
“Find out what happens when medical evidence from New Zealand doctors – usually left unchallenged – is put to the test.”
Also at the awards, Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne was again a finalist, this time for columnist of the year, won by Virgina Fallon of The Post. And our literary editor Steve Braunias was finalist for feature writer of the year, won by Catherine Woulfe of NZ Geographic.
The most notable victory of the night was for 1News former political editor Maiki Sherman for political journalist of the year. She left the role just weeks ago after political and social media pressure following revelations of her using a slur against another journalist at a Beehive function a year earlier.
Sherman accepted the award saying: “Well, well, well.”
She said it was re-affirming after a tough few weeks. Her winning entry featured coverage of the split in Te Pāti Māori.
Sherman told the crowd part of her hadn’t wanted to attend the awards but part had, to stare the situation in the face courageously, but “with humility, as well.”
“This award simply re-affirms to me everything that I’ve known in my heart, that I am a darned good journalist…. I am courageous and I am fearless when it comes to holding politicians to account, but that is across the board. And I make no apologies for that.”
Stuff was declared best digital news provider, ahead of 1 News and the NZ Herald, and the Rotorua Daily Post was named newspaper of the year ahead of its parent paper the Herald, the Sunday Star-Times and the Ashburton Guardian.
Other major awards saw RNZ’s crime correspondent Sam Sherwood win three leading categories, including Reporter of the Year, partly for coverage of the case of the disgraced deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming.
Photographer of the year was Richard Robinson for NZ Geographic, best coverage of a major news event went to Stuff for the death of Tom Phillips, best scoop to Tony Wall of Stuff for the recording of police communications when they encountered Phillips, best investigation to the Herald’s Jared Savage for his reporting on McSkimming.
