A myopia epidemic, traditional tatau, tobacco industry lobbying, and weight loss surgery are among the topics canvassed by finalists of the inaugural Science Journalism Awards.
We received 58 submissions including magazine features, television news, podcasts, digital interactives, videos and online news. We have been blown away by the calibre of the work nominated this year.
From this incredible crop of nominations, here are the works that impressed the judges the most. The winner for each category will be announced on June 19th in Wellington.
The SMC is delighted to announce the Science Journalism Awards finalists are:
Emerging journalist:
- Insurance retreat: Homeowners in flood-prone areas abandoned and facing risk – Emma Ricketts, NZ Listener
- ‘People power’ – ECan finally answers call to give dying fish water – Eve Hyslop, The Press
- Staring down the ‘silent epidemic’ of myopia in children – Shanti Mathias, The Spinoff
- Traditional tattooing practices in the spotlight: Workshop aims to prevent infection or tragedy– Grace Fiavaai, NZ Herald
Established journalist:
- Chewing the Facts: Going under the knife – Sasha Borissenko, NZME
- Deep Trouble: How climate change has reached the world’s end – Jamie Morton, NZ Herald
- Raise up the billowing sail – Nic Low, New Zealand Geographic
- Smoke Signals – Kate Newton, RNZ
- The stuff of life – Carbon capture in our ocean ecosystems – Kate Evans, Claire Concannon, Ellen Rykers, Phil Vine, William Saunders, Tim Watkin, and James Frankham, RNZ/NZ Geographic
Many thanks to our incredible judges for the 2024 awards, who’ve done an impressive and diligent job of weighing up the many excellent entries we received.
- Dr Sarah-Jane O’Connor, Centre for Science and Society, Te Herenga Waka
- Professor Ben Kennedy, winner of the 2023 Prime Minster’s Science Communication Award
- Veronika Meduna, freelance science writer, broadcaster, editor and author