Since the demise of the Australian International Motor Show a decade ago, there have been few opportunities for the entire automotive industry to get together.
More than 150 attended the inaugural Newspress Australia Awards at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney on April 19, celebrating automotive journalism, photography, videography, and public relations.
The PR Awards were voted for by journalists and won on a simple “most votes wins” basis.
Nissan Australia’s Emily Fadayev won the PR Person of the Year award. The other finalists were Hyundai’s Bill Thomas and Isuzu Ute’sMark Harman.
Hyundai Australia won the PR Team of the Year award sponsored by DEC PR. The other finalists were Kia Australia and Porsche Australia.
Porsche Cars Australia (Alexis Truscott) won the PR Innovation of the Year award.
“Porsche was recognised by the motoring media for its flexible access to vehicles before their official launch dates, as well as meeting modern media needs with the might of a marketing budget, evidenced by its star-studded outback tour in an all-electric Porsche Taycan,” said the judges.
The Nissan Patrol Warrior event in Tasmania was judged the Product Launch of the Year. The other finalist events were the Porsche 911 GT3 event at The Bend, South Australia and the Kia EV6 function in Melbourne.
Ford Australia’s Cameron Kirby won the Rising Star of PR award sponsored by MSR. The other finalists were Hyundai Australia’s Nikki Jones and Audi Australia’s Roxanne Salzborn.
The 2023 Hyundai Australia N Festival won the Event of the Year award.
Newspress 2023 Journalism Awards
People from all parts of the industry nominated the awards for journalism, photography, videography, and content. Then, the judges, Phil Scott, Anna Burgdorf, Peter McKay, and Lenore Fletcher, pored over them.
Toby Hagon from EV Central won the EV Journalist of the Year award, which Polestar Australia sponsored. Other category finalists were Tom White from CarsGuide and Bryce Gatton from The Driven.
“Toby Hagon has done the hard yards on EV tech. The research is deep, the opinions reasonably held, and as an educator, he is without peer,” said the judges.
Feann Torr from Carsales.com.au won the Video of the Year award.
“Feann easily hits all the key points in his appraisal of the GWM Tank 300, wrapping it up with a good and concise summary. He gets the chequered flag in this tight contest,” said the judges.
Sam Purcell from Drive.com.au won the Off-road Writer of the Year award sponsored by Bridgestone Dueler. Other category finalists were Evan Spence from Unsealed 4X4 and Marcus Craft from carsguide.com.au.
“Never a once-over-lightly reviewer, Sam puts in the work, has an objective testing methodology and quietly nails the facts and figures,” said the judges.
Watts Under The Bonnet by Carsales.com.au won the Best Podcast award.
The judges said it’s always interesting, easily digestible content on a hot topic.
Alex Misoyannis from Drive.com.au won the Rising Star Journalist award sponsored by Hyundai Australia and presented by Newspress Australia charity partner Drive against Depression.
The judges said Misoyannis is a data-driven, research-heavy sleuth with many big stories. A young phenomenon we will see more of in the future.”
Misoyannis also won the award for the Scoop of the Year.
“Tesla was forced to take action after Alex exposed the lack of vital child safety equipment in the latest Model 3 – one of the country’s best-selling vehicles,” said the judges.
Drive’s Ultimate Family Guide won the Print Special Edition of the Year.
“One of three generous lift-outs from Drive included a range of excellent topics. Rob Margeit’s excellent confession on resetting his driving test was a highlight,” said the judges.
Stephen Corby from The Weekend Australian won the Columnist of the Year award.
“The true test of a motoring column is to have non-car people read it and enjoy it, and with this bloke, they do,” said the judges.
Byron Mathioudakis from CarsGuide.com.au won the award for Best Road Tester.
“With a knowledge of the minutiae of the car world that is second to none, Byron has a flying start over most of his contemporaries,” said the judges
Thomas Wielecki was awarded Photographer of the Year.
“Like a good bottle of Red, Thomas only gets better with age,” said the judges.
Wheels Car of the Year 2023 by Whichcar.com.au won the online Special Edition of the Year award.
“Not every car of the year award is undertaken with the high standards of the original, and Wheels is still setting the benchmark. This historically respected car of the year cannot be ignored,” the judges said.
Alex Inwood from Wheels was voted the Feature Writer of the Year.
“Factual and fascinating, Alex’s pieces are beautifully visual and transporting,” said the judges.
Joshua Dowling won the News Journalist of the Year award, which Nissan sponsored.
“Dowling is unafraid — a constantly high-achieving journalist who is an elbows-out news gatherer through and through,” the judges said.
Peter Robinson won the Feature of the Year award for his Star Crossed piece.
“Only one person could have written this story of failure and redemption from the inside of one of the most hallowed brands in the world. Of course, Peter paid for it with the coldest of shoulders from Stuttgart for years,” the judges said.
Paint and Panel won the award for Custom Publication of the Year.
“A well-executed offering that balances news, features, interviews and imagery in a well-balanced package. It makes a traditionally dry industry interesting,” the judges said.
Car Expert’s Paul Maric won Video Presenter of the Year. Other category finalists were Alexandra Lawrence from Carsales and Tom Baker from Chasing Cars.
“An engineer by training but a journalist by instinct, Paul is never reluctant to call out product inaccuracies and consumers since he is their ally, hence his huge following,” the judges said.
Stephen Dwight won the award for Videographer of the Year.
“In the modern motoring media world, video is more important than ever before, and the judges commended Stephen for his excellent use of light and ability to capture the eye and strong editing skills,” the judges said.
Bruce Newton won the Journalist of the Year award, sponsored by Kia Australia.
“A jack of all trades, Bruce is a vastly experienced operator equally at home breaking news or turning out the most readable long-form pieces, and he’s been doing it for decades. He is not shy of doing the work fact-checking on double sourcing before he sits down to write,” said the judges.
CarExpert was judged the Media outlet of the year, and the other finalists were CarsGuide, Drive, and CarSales.
“CarExpert has plenty of swagger, but the content is bang on, well-produced and edited. It feels free of PR spin and appears unafraid to call it as it sees it. It’s impossible not to be impressed by a site that can deliver across all of today’s media and consumer demands,” the judges said.
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