2018 Guild Agricultural Journalism Awards Winners

Winners of the 2018 NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists & Communicators Awards were announced at the sixtieth anniversary dinner, sponsored by Beef + Lamb NZ and the Meat Industry Association, in Wellington on Friday 5 October.

Following are the award-winning entries. Most are linked to online items, but some are in pdf format requiring Acrobat Reader.

AgResearch Science Writers Award

This award has been established by the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators and AgResearch to enhance standards of science writing, especially about pastoral agriculture. It was won by freelancer, Kate Evans.

Alliance Red Meat Industry Journalism Award

This award recognises the ability to communicate the complexities of the red meat industry. It was won by Sally Rae of the Otago Daily Times.

AGMARDT Agribusiness Award

This award recognises high quality information about an effective analysis of national, global and other agribusiness. This award was won by Sonita Chandar for articles which appeared in NZ Dairy Farmer.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Hard News Award

This award is designed to recognise excellence in hard news journalism, focusing on a sheepmeat or beef news story, from the farm to the market. This award was won by freelancer Ali Spencer.

Dairy Industry Journalism Award

This award, won this year by NZ Dairy Exporter's Jackie Harrigan, focuses on all aspects of the dairy sector, from genetics, breeding, on-farm, processing, marketing, and all the many issues facing the New Zealand dairy industry.

Federated Farmers Broadcast Journalism Award

The award has been established to recognise excellence in the broadcasting side of agricultural or agribusiness journalism, either radio of television. Radio NZ Country Life reporter Carol Stiles won this award.

Federated Farmers Rural Photography Award

This award is open to any New Zealand-based journalist, photo-journalist, or photographer and is not restricted to NZGAJC members.The 2018 award was won by freelance photographer Emma McCarthy for a photo which appeared on the cover of NZ Dairy Exporter.

Emma-McCarthy-Federated-Farmers-Rural-Photography-Award

Horticulture New Zealand Journalism Award 

This award, won this year by Elaine Fisher of Coast & Country, has been established by the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators and Horticulture New Zealand, to encourage and recognise excellence in agricultural journalism, on New Zealand’s horticulture industry.  

Guild's Agricultural Journalism Encouragement Award

This award was established by the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators, and is designed to acknowledge and recognise the work of journalists who have been specialising in agricultural journalism for three years or less. Esther Taunton was the winner of this category this year for three articles that appeared in Stuff.

MPI Rongo Award

This award is for excellence in journalism in the primary sector and was jointly won this year by Hugh Stringleman and Neal Wallace for a series of investigative articles in Farmers Weekly magazine.

Runners Up (Equal)

Susan Murray

Carol Stiles

Rural Women NZ Journalism Award

This award has been established to recognise the important contribution women make (and have always made) in the rural community, either through their role in the farming sector or to the general rural environment, in its broadest interpretation. It was won this year by Carol Stiles of Radio NZ's Country Life programme.

Rural Women NZ Rural Connectivity Award

The award, won in 2018 by Gerald Piddock of Stuff, has been established to recognise the importance of connectivity to rural communities and agri-businesses in rural areas. 

Zespri Export Journalism Award

Gerald Piddock also won this award, which focuses on all aspects of the primary sector exports – on farm, processing, packaging, transport, marketing, research, aimed at increasing market share.

Read the press release here ...