BusinessDesk has been nominated for five awards at the Newspaper Publishers’ Association Voyager journalism awards.
The publication has four finalists across three categories at the country’s main journalism awards.
Editor Pattrick Smellie is nominated for the best business columnist category as well as best political columnist of the year.
His business entries included a piece about Team NZ's structure and Grant Dalton, a piece on last September's pre-economic fiscal and economic update and an exclusive on Nine Entertainment's decision to shut down Stuff by May 31 if a buyer had not been found.
Smellie, a former press gallery chair, submitted political opinion pieces including one urging the government to go harder and faster against covid-19, just days before it announced the alert level 4 lockdown last March, a reflective piece on how last September's election was won, and an article about Ihumātao.
Jenny Ruth is nominated for business journalist of the year. The work submitted for the award demonstrates the depth and experience Ruth has in listed company coverage, and included pieces on Metlifecare, Abano Healthcare, Steel & Tube and valuations in the aged care sector.
Ruth was the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association 2018 Business Journalist of the Year winner.
Founding staffer and now South Island correspondent Paul McBeth has also been selected in the best business columnist category.
His portfolio included pieces on whether the Reserve Bank of New Zealand should cut the OCR last March, an insightful piece on the bid to takeover Infratil, and a copyright column triggered by the Supreme Court ruling in the long running Kim Dotcom saga.
Jehan Casinader is nominated for best political columnist for his work for BusinessDesk.
His entries included a piece on former National leader Todd Muller, internet porn restrictions and diversity in government.
Casinader, who won broadcast reporter of the year at last year’s awards, is also nominated for best feature writer for his work for the Sunday Star Times.
Smellie said: “These nominations are a great endorsement of the hard work of the whole BusinessDesk team.”
The strong showing at the awards follows a huge year of growth for BusinessDesk since it launched a subscription-only website on Feb 26 last year, just ahead of the level 4 lockdown.
Chairman and columnist Brian Gaynor took home the Shareholder’s Association Beacon Award last November at an event where BusinessDesk journalists Pattrick Smellie, Gavin Evans, and Brent Melville were finalists in all three categories – features, commentary, and news.
BusinessDesk today also added company announcements and much richer detail to its NZX offering, cementing its place as the only New Zealand publisher with full NZX data.
Voyager Nominees:
Best columnist – business
Paul McBeth - BusinessDesk/Content Ltd
Tom Pullar Strecker - Stuff
Maria Slade -The National Business Review
Pattrick Smellie - BusinessDesk/Content Ltd
Calida Stuart-Menteath - The National Business Review
Best columnist – politics
Jehan Casinader - BusinessDesk/Content Ltd
Jane Clifton - New Zealand Listener/Are Media
John Roughan - NZ Herald/NZME
Pattrick Smellie - BusinessDesk/Content Ltd
Jenee Tibshraeny - interest.co.nz
Andrea Vance - Stuff
Business journalist of the Year
Nikki Macdonald - Sunday Star-Times, Dominion Post, stuff.co.nz/Stuff
Nikki Mandow - newsroom.co.nz
Matt Nippert - NZ Herald/NZME
Jenny Ruth - BusinessDesk/Content Ltd
Maria Slade - The National Business Review
