THE News Media Executive of the Year award awarded to the Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley at the 2018 PANPA Awards in Sydney, Australia showed great international recognition of journalistic standards and the trademark of an excellent newspaper.
These were the words of the Fiji Times Ltd outgoing General Manager and Publisher Hank Arts, who said that being internationally recognised also showed the high standards of journalism at The Fiji Times.
“It’s simply an astonishing acknowledgement of the team at The Fiji Times and being internationally recognised is obviously a wonderful achievement for the team at Fiji Times,” he said.
However, Mr Arts said it was a pity that some organisations have failed to recognise the efforts by The Fiji Times to produce a daily, honest and balanced newspaper.
“To win this award is a mission for major newspapers in Asia, Australia and New Zealand such as the Sydney Morning Herald, New Zealand Herald, and Dominion Post and so on.
“This is a wonderful achievement, The Fiji Times continues to produce standards and a lot of the credit must go to Fred Wesley as the Editor and the journalists efforts.
“It’s been a tough ride over a couple of years, this is an indication that The Fiji Times is on the right track and all of Fiji should be proud,” he said. Mr Arts also acknowledged the company directors for the support and said the newspaper would continue to thrive.
“Tides are turning, fake news is becoming more and more prevalent with issues on Facebook, and the tide is turning where the newspaper readership is already growing higher than before.
“We are positive about the newspaper, our staff and the future,” Mr Arts added.
Wesley said the award was a highlight for the brand and the positive reflection of resilience.
“I am honoured and very excited about this achievement.
The Fiji Times is celebrating 150 years of existence next year. As a company we have come through tough times, from 2009 onwards. Yet in the face of the many obstacles we faced, Fiji Times staff was never deterred,” he said.
“There are many people behind the scenes working silently, doing their best for the company daily, from the journalists and photographers on the frontline at headquarters in Suva, in our West and North bureaus, to the sub-editors and department heads, our drivers, admin staff, circulation and advertising teams.
“They prop up this 149 year old brand. This is for each one of them and their families, and for all our readers around the world who continue to motivate us to do what we do – provide information for people to make well-informed decisions on a daily basis,” he added.
FACTFILE: News Media Awards 2018 winners: NEWS BRANDS 2018 NEWS BRAND OF THE YEAR *The Weekend Australian, News Corp Australia COMMUNITY NEWS BRAND OF THE YEAR *The Gympie Times, News Corp Australia REGIONAL NEWS BRAND OF THE YEAR *NT News, News Corp Australia DAILY NEWS BRAND OF THE YEAR *The New Zealand Herald, NZME WEEKEND NEWS BRAND OF THE YEAR *The Weekend Australian, News Corp Australia NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR *China’s Operation Australia, Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, The Age, Fairfax Media ADVERTISING BEST EXECUTION OF PRINT ADVERTISING FOR A CLIENT COMMUNITY
