Weekend Herald best in class

The Weekend Herald has been named the country's best weekly newspaper.

The coveted national accolade was one of 23 awards won by the Herald at last night's Qantas media awards in Wellington.

In news reporting the Herald won eight of the 13 categories and picked up four more awards for both feature writing and columnists.

Rod Emmerson was named cartoonist of the year, making it two from two since he joined the Herald in 2003.

Subeditor Arthur Whelan won the inaugural prize for best headline writing and senior photographer Brett Phibbs won best feature picture and was runner up in photographer of the year.

canvas contributor Suzanne McFadden was a finalist for feature writer of the year and Michele Hewitson, who features today on the Back Page, was a finalist for the overall columnist award.

Two specialist Herald sections took top prizes. SuperSport, edited by Andy Hay, was declared the best sports section in the country and Travel on Tuesday, edited by Jim Eagles, won from its field. Eagles also took the individual award for best travel columnist.

The newspaper of the year title went to the Otago Daily Times, of Dunedin, with the award for smaller daily papers taken by the Manawatu Standard.

The highest individual award, the Wolfson fellowship to Cambridge, went to New Zealand Listener deputy editor Tim Watkin. Watkin, a former Herald feature writer, also won the Senior Magazine Feature Writer award and an Arts Feature category.

Of the Weekend Herald, the judges said the paper "pulled ahead in this very competitive field as a result of its powerful and confronting series on Race Relations in New Zealand ... This series was handled with authority and balance and its presentation was compelling but restrained.

"Clearly this was a huge undertaking by the newspaper and a valuable exercise for New Zealand. What a worthy and ambitious undertaking and one that brought out the best that a very good newspaper has to offer."

The Herald on Sunday, launched just last October, was a finalist for best weekly newspaper.

Emmerson's citation said his work stood out for the "strength of his ideas, supported by a polished graphic style". His "mix of subject matter showed an equal grasp of local and international issues".

Of Arthur Whelan's work, the judges said it was "incisive, intelligent and with just the right dusting of humour".

Herald writer Angela Gregory won both the news and feature writing awards for coverage of Pacific affairs, as did Tapu Misa for her Wednesday columns on Pacific issues.

The Herald won the news and feature awards on Maori issues, to political writer Ruth Berry and Maori issues reporter Jon Stokes.

The paper was a finalist in the best investigation category, for its work exposing the arrest of Mossad agents in the Israeli passport affair. Assistant editor Fran O'Sullivan won the prize for best Government and foreign affairs story for a front page revelation on that controversy.

The Herald's extensive campaign last year highlighting the dangers of meningococcal B was a finalist for best community project.