Media Releases

RNZ wins major international and local awards

Released at 2:20 pm on 16 November 2021

RNZ has had a strong showing at multiple media award presentations in the past week, including three wins and a highly commended at the pre-eminent international broadcasting awards the AIBs. The Association of International Broadcasters (AIB) awards are judged by an international panel of experts nominated by broadcasters from round the world. They cover factual television, radio, audio and online productions in any language.

Checkpoint with Lisa Owen has won the Radio & Audio News Reporting category for the show’s COVID Lockdown Special, beating other finalists including Sky News covering the Beirut explosion and Bloomberg Radio’s coverage of the storming of the US Capitol.  

The judges declared that the Checkpoint entry won for its “high news value and remarkable ability to convey a challenging atmosphere.”

This follows on from Checkpoint winning three awards at this years NZ Radio Awards, including Best News Story – Team Coverage for the COVID Lockdown Special, Best Show Production Team – Talk Show, and Best Talk Presenter – Breakfast or Drive for host Lisa Owen.

The four-part video series Fight for the Wild, has won the TV and Video Natural World category. The series was produced for RNZ by Fisheye Films and funded by the RNZ/NZ On Air Innovation Fund. In the Domestic Affairs TV & Video category NZ Wars: Stories of Tainui (produced by Great Southern Television for RNZ) was Highly Commended.

Te Aniwa Hurihanganui backs up her Best Young Reporter Award at this year’s Voyager Awards with the AIB Special Award for Young Journalist. The former RNZ Henare te Ua (Māori Journalism) intern, now journalist, won for her stellar work for RNZ including her recent investigations for the In Depth team.

RNZ also won big at the inaugural NZ Podcast Awards on Thursday, winning ten awards including Best Publisher, and video series Untold Pacific History won Best Show (NZ Factual) at the NZ Webfest Awards on Saturday.

RNZ Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief Paul Thompson says that the acknowledgement of RNZ’s work across multiple categories and awards is a huge endorsement of RNZ’s as a multi-platform media organisation.

“As we celebrate radio broadcasting in New Zealand turning 100 this week, it is a great opportunity to reflect on what a modern public media organisation offers today – great storytelling across many mediums.

“It’s really exciting to see the work of Checkpoint and the whole RNZ team, as well as specialist producers of commissioned series like Fisheye Productions and Great Southern Television acknowledged on the global stage.”

 

All awards

AIBs

TV/Video - Natural World - Fight for the Wild - Fisheye Films for RNZ - Winner
TV/Video - Domestic Affairs Documentary - NZ Wars: Stories of Tainui - Great Southern Television for RNZ – Highly Commended
Radio/Audio - News Reporting - Checkpoint: COVID Lockdown Special - Winner
Special Award - Young Journalist - Te Aniwa Hurihanganui 

 

NZ Podcast Awards

Gold awards
Best Publisher
Best Culture & Arts – Black Sheep
Best True Crime - Black Sheep
Best Science & Environment - Our Changing World
Best Current Affairs - Mediawatch

Silver award

Best Current Affairs – Saturday Morning with Kim Hill

Bronze awards

Best Science & Environment - Fight for the Wild
Best News & Politics – Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Best Radio Podcast - Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan
Best True Crime - Crimes NZ

NZ Webfest Awards

Best Show (NZ Factual) - Untold Pacific History (made by Tikilounge Productions for RNZ)