Voyager Media Awards 2024

This year represented 51 years of the Media Awards and the 7th year of Voyager being the Premium Sponsor. The awards have been celebrating excellence in New Zealand journalism since 1973 and are widely recognised as the most prestigious and highly regarded event on the media calendar.

The 2024 Voyager Media Awards celebration was a black-tie event held upstairs at the historic Shed 10 in Auckland on Friday, 24 May 2024. Guests enjoyed a 3-course sit down meal, drinks and entertainment and presentation of 37 awards for work produced throughout 2023 as well as Outstanding Achievement Awards to three journalists for their tremendous contribution to the industry.

In his opening address, Seeby Woodhouse - Founder of Voyager Internet - related the current changes in the media landscape to his experiences in the Telecommunications space:

“I realized recently that next year will mark 30 years for me personally being involved in the New Zealand telecommunications landscape. I founded Orcon (now part of 2 Degrees) in the early ’90s as a teenager, which was one of the first companies to offer internet in New Zealand. After selling Orcon, and for the last 14 years, I’ve owned Voyager Internet.

As I look back over my 30 years of experience, I realized that there was virtually NEVER a time when there wasn’t some existential threat to the New Zealand telecommunications industry. For example:

Just as I got the hang of providing dial-up internet in the ’90s, other providers started giving it away for free.

After surviving the “free internet” era, then in the 2000s, ADSL technology came along, requiring significant investment and restructuring.

After ADSL technology changed to fibre, once again, we had to evolve.

I survived the dot-com crash and the 2008 crash.

Today we have Starlink and the mobile companies trying to take on fibre internet.

And on, and on.

So, why am I bringing this up? Well, given the fact that New Zealand is in a recession and the recent closure of News Hub, I’m sure there are some people in the room who are feeling gloomy.

I wanted to remind you that it’s not just your industry; every industry has challenges, and there are challenges all the time. After winter always comes spring. Keep doing what you’re doing, keep finding ways to add value, and everything will be okay.”

Deidre Steyn, CEO of Voyager, advises:

“I am thrilled to announce our continued sponsorship of the Voyager Media Awards for the eighth consecutive year. We are proud to support an industry that is key to public discourse and education. We believe that quality journalism is crucial, and by backing these awards, we’re giving a nod to the journos who keep Kiwis informed, stand up for democracy, and bring diverse stories to light. We look forward to providing ongoing support to the Awards and to celebrating the incredible achievements of our local media for many more years to come.”

Congratulations to all finalists and winners with a special mention to our sponsored award winners:

Stuff : Digital News Provider of the Year

Sam Sherwood : Reporter of the Year

Hawkes Bay Today : Newspaper of the Year

Congratulations to all the winners which you can read more about here on our Voyager Media Awards page.

We look forward to hosting you again in 2025.