Wintec grad wins top student at Canon Media Awards
Ex Waikato Independent staffer Don Rowe took out the top student award at the prestigious Canon Media Awards in Auckland this year.
The School of Media Arts journalism course has maintained its stellar hit rate at the Canon Media Awards, with graduate Don Rowe named as the 2015 Student Journalist of the Year.
Rowe is the third Wintec graduate to win the top award in the past four years.
He follows in the footsteps of two other recent winners, Jonathan Carson, now with the Nelson Mail, who won the award in 2012; and Jenna Lynch, now with Prime News, who won in 2013.
Rowe found out he was nominated for the award a few days after it was announced when he returned from a hunting trip.
“I was pretty stoked,” he said.
“Although, to be honest, I was more excited for a shower after being in the bush for that long.”
Rowe’s award winning portfolio was centred on two of his best feature articles, In the Province of the Mind and The Dancing King.
In the Province of the Mind was written about his experience with flotation therapy, and The Dancing King was written about two times King in the Ring kickboxing cruiserweight champion and Super Eight boxing champion, Israel Adesanya.
The Dancing King was a cover story for SKY Sport – the Magazine.
However, Rowe said he did not expect to win the award.
“Winning was awesome,” he said.
“I was still having fun so it was an extra bonus when they read out my name. Some people I really respect were very happy, so that was rewarding.”
Wintec Editor in Residence Steve Braunias said he recognised Rowe’s potential immediately upon meeting him.
“He was giving a presentation about something as a first-year degree student,” Braunias said.
“It was obvious within about six seconds that he was someone with a brilliant and original mind.”
Rowe spent time during the course on placement at the Waikato Times where, as a determined self-starter, he made an impression on newsroom staff.
Waikato Times editor Jonathan MacKenzie said Rowe’s win is proof of the benefits students get from spending time in the field during the course.
“This is the real thing and they’re exposed to so many things here and they get a chance to actually do the job here,” MacKenzie said.
“Being on the job and working with the photographers and working with other reporters, and [to] have the desk staff looking over your shoulder just makes all the difference.”
Wintec journalism students are required to complete a minimum of 120 hours working in a newsroom throughout the year as part of the course.
MacKenzie said this side of the course gets the students ready to go when the time comes to start working in the field.
“You can’t replicate the environment, you just can’t,” he said.
“It’s like going from a flight sim to flying the real thing.”
Other Wintec graduates represented at the Canons this year include ex-Sunday Star Times Ben Stanley, who won the senior sportswriter award for the third time; Waikato Times staffer Flo Kerr who won regional reporter; and Harkanwal Singh, who collected a number of digital journalism awards for the New Zealand Herald.
