Local Democracy Reporter Felix Desmarais/ Photo Andrew Warner.
Local Democracy Reporter Felix Desmarais/ Photo Andrew Warner.
Local Democracy Reporter at the Rotorua Daily Post Felix Desmarais has picked up a major prize at the Voyager Media Awards in Auckland.
Desmarais won the award for Best Reporting (Local Government) at New Zealand journalism's biggest night of the year held at Auckland's Cordis Hotel on Saturday night.
The judging panel said: "Felix Desmarais submitted a strong portfolio identifying actions by the local council which it clearly would have preferred he hadn't noticed. He pursued these with solid research, dogged persistence and good aggressive reporting."
Desmarais said he was shell-shocked by the win as he was in a field of incredible finalists he greatly admired.
"The greatest measure of success to me is if Rotorua's public feel more informed and empowered by what I do. An independent and fierce fourth estate is vital to a fair society and I'm grateful to the community for their readership. I'll continue to do my very best for them every day."
Regional editor Scott Inglis said Desmarais' win highlighted his insightful and determined journalism in the local government round.
"Felix is an incredibly talented and dedicated journalist, and that is reflected in the high quality of his work."
Felix Desmarais at the Voyager Awards. Photo / Supplied
Desmarais was also a finalist in the Regional Journalist of the Year category.
The Rotorua Daily Post was also a finalist in the Regional Newspaper of the Year category after winning it last year.
NZME also nabbed a bevy of honours at the awards.
The NZ Herald reigned supreme, winning the two marquee digital awards - Website of the Year and News App of the Year.
It is the third straight year that the Herald website and app have won the acclaimed "digital double".
The Weekend Herald was also named Weekly Newspaper of the Year and Canvas magazine was judged best newspaper magazine.
The Herald's 90% Project, which helped keep New Zealanders safe during the Covid pandemic, was judged joint winner of best editorial campaign. The project had already won global recognition at the annual INMA awards in June.
And NZME's special series on dementia, The Brains Trust, was awarded Best Documentary.
Among the big individual NZ Herald winners were Hamish Fletcher, named Editorial Leader of the Year.
The Herald's Simon Wilson was named Feature Writer of the Year (short-form) and Brett Phibbs was judged Photographer of the Year. Wilson also won the award for best first-person essay.
Jamie Morton was named best science reporter, Jared Savage best crime reporter and Steve Braunias best arts and culture reporter. John Cowpland was adjudged best sports photographer.
The Herald also won the highly contested best data journalism category, recognising the work of Chris McDowall and Keith Ng.
