While we make the news every week, whether it’s gathering information on important local issues and happenings or simply celebrating the amazing people in our community, it’s relatively rare for Gulf News to actually feature in the news.
This week we’re proud to report that Gulf News has won Community Newspaper of the Year at the prestigious Voyager Media Awards – and were also finalists for overall Newspaper of the Year 2025.
The Voyagers are the national awards for the news industry, with news giants Stuff and NZME’s stables of publications, RNZ, TVNZ and The Spinoff all in the running. Gulf News has entered the annual awards five times and was a finalist for Community Newspaper of the Year in four of those years before finally bringing the trophy home this year.
Comments from the category’s judges, Jonathan Milne and Nicola Coburn, called the Gulf News an “excellent” publication and a quality product that is clearly delivering for its community.
“Waiheke is lucky to have the Gulf News, a superb community publication that provides an excellent mix of local stories that matter. Recognising the constraints of a weekly publication, news coverage is intelligently curated, well investigated and presented with context,” they said.
“There is no shying away from the big issues, but equally, local people and their achievements are not forgotten.”
The win put Gulf News in contention for Newspaper of the Year against print news titans Herald on Sunday and Otago Daily Times, as well as the Regional Newspaper of Year Hawke’s Bay Today.
Judges Carmen Parahi, Jim Tully and Jonathan Milne said that all four were strong contenders, with the award ultimately going to the Herald on Sunday.
Earlier this month Gulf News’ sister publication, the Waiheke Weekender, also did well at print news’ other major national awards, the Community Newspaper Awards – which covers independent newspapers and magazines across New Zealand. At the 2025 Community News conference, the Weekender was announced as the runner up for Best Magazine – second to Christchurch lifestyle magazine Metropol.
Weekender and Metropol often jostle for the top spot, and Weekender has won against the larger paper in both 2022 and 2023 when the judges said: “Every square inch says ‘We are Waiheke’.
“In depth stories and island guides are “all expertly designed” and “given its weekly cadence, this is an impressive publication.”
Gulf News also tends to do well at the CNAs, taking out the top Frank Veale Memorial Award for Best Community Newspaper many times over the last few decades, most recently in 2021. In 2020 and 2023 Gulf News also won the overall award for Best Community Involvement for a series of stories highlighting the plight of Waiheke’s native birds and for the Great Gulf News Trolley Derby.
• Paul Mitchell.
© Waiheke Gulf News Ltd 2025
