Massey Students Win Journalism Award

Massey Students Win Inaugural Bruce Jesson Emerging Journalism Award

A three-month investigation into a potential health risk from contamination at the former Masterton gasworks has won a team of Massey University journalism students the inaugural Bruce Jesson Emerging Journalism Prize.

The six students (Amanda Fisher, Michael Hasumi-Dickison, Motoko Kakubayashi, Chloe Vaughan, Rory MacKinnon and Sarah Taane) broke the news that local residents had not been informed of toxin levels on the old gasworks site, and that the local council had failed to follow up on advice, given years earlier, to remedy the situation.

The Massey submission consisted of three stories, including the front-page lead story, in the Wairarapa Times-Age newspaper on October 26, 2009. The students’ balanced coverage, achieved under the supervision of Massey Journalism lecturer James Hollings, included a well-written human interest story told from the point of view of a nearby resident whose children regularly played on the contaminated soil, alongside extensive expert commentary about potential risks, and rebuttal from the Regional Medical Office of Health who played down the risks. Though the response of the local council was described by the paper’s editor as “muted”, the story was not subject to legal challenge and was picked up by several other newspapers.

The Jesson judging panel recommended the award after consulting with Wairarapa Times-Age editor Dave Saunders about the students’ work. Saunders was impressed with their thoroughness and professionalism. “It was bloody good work,” Saunders said.

The Bruce Jesson Foundation was established in 1999 to commemorate one of New Zealand’s greatest political journalists, the late Bruce Jesson, by promoting “vigorous political, social and economic investigation, debate, analysis and reporting in New Zealand”. The Foundation holds an Annual Lecture and awards two journalism prizes:

The Senior Journalism Prize which is self-nominated by the journalists themselves and involves an emolument of up to NZ$3,000 to assist them to produce the kind of critical and analytical journalism exemplified by Jesson’s work.

The Emerging Journalism Prize which has a fixed emolument of $500 and is nominated by the heads of New Zealand journalism schools or journalism programme leaders for published work by student journalists.

Professor Jane Kelsey
Chair, Bruce Jesson Foundation