Air New Zealand Best Blog Award**

Here in New Zealand we believe in fairness, in playing by the rules that have been set upfront and in meaning what we say so that everyone has a fair go.

It has been brought to our attention that the Qantas Media Awards 2010 represent anything but that. It has got under our skins.



This does not surprise us since Qantas is an airline that still has business class beds that frustratingly do not lie flat and they charge similar or in many cases more expensive fares than airlines that give you a good night's sleep up the front. They still insult various long-haul routes lacking the competition of an Air New Zealand by having even older fit-outs that in many cases sell business class seats to customers that resemble Grandpop's creaky old lazy-boy with air hosties way less friendly and useful than Grandma. We pity from across the common area, anyone having to wait at Auckland International Airport in their lounge!

Lets face it Qantas is yesterday's airline flying yesterday's media awards. And they are Australian. Which in itself explains the deficiency in playing by rules against honesty Kiwis.

Good heavens the awards still ask for typewritten entry forms, editorial approval and do not allow submission via links to an email address.

The Best Blog of the Year award was meant to be a departure from 2009 where branded corporate blogs from Fairfax were named as finalists. Blogs that did nothing to add to the brand of news or current affairs that the awards night are meant to celebrate.

Moata Tamaira - aka the Librarian
Greer McDonald - aka the generation Y who now blogs wondering how she got $50,000 in debt
Adam Brown - A sports blogger

This year's finalists are just as bad. It has been alleged quite correctly that the three finalists do not even meet Qantas' own criteria and should be disqualified.

So in the spirit of giving everyone a fair go, we have taken this mild mannered rural lady's suggestion, gathered forces across the blogging community and created the "Air New Zealand Best Blog Award".

What are we are looking for?

The competition will be judged by the same criteria that the Qantas Best Blog Award was meant to be judged and it is only open to blogs "primarily dedicated to reporting news or views on news". We don't care about your personal finances, how your baby is doing or how wonderful your husband is for putting out the rubbish.

The judges will seek to recognise how content generated by the blog’s community of readers is incorporated into coverage of a story or particular subject. Examples could include reader generated comment, photographs, news tips etc.

So how do you enter?

No need for a silly form. Just like any modern airline, you can book everything online. No need to send a nomination form off in the post to have it passed through several sets of hands at the mercy of human competence, here at the Air New Zealand Best Blog Award, we only require that you:

1. Pick your four best samples of work in the calendar year 2009 that define your blog; and
2. Forward links to nzbloggersunion@hotmail.com

Do not make a pitch to us, Kiwis don't do that.

Like The Listener, we are not listening. We believe that your four links should speak for themselves.

Who will be judging you?

The Judging Panel will consist of a balanced mix of political, media and social commentators and professionals including Tumeke's Tim Selwyn, the creator of the first New Zealand blog ranking system:

Matthew Hooton - right wing extremist, political commentator and co-owner of PR agency Exceltium;
Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury - left wing extremist, media commentator and radio and TV host, co-author of Tumeke;
Ricardo Simich - director of One Agency, marketing and events specialists;

Tim Selwyn - creator of the first NZ blog ranking system, co-author of Tumeke; and
Regan Cunliffe - doesn't need to pimp himself as a social media guru, he runs Throng Media, a global network of Television websites and ffunnell, an ad network for independent publishers.

No representatives or lackeys of "old media" in that lot and we have tried to cover all political spectrums so there is no accusations of bias.


The winner will be crowned Air New Zealand Best Blog and carry with that the aura in the blogging community of being better than the Qantas Best Blog.

Important Dates

Entries close on 1st of June 2010 and because we always come ahead of Qantas and the old media, the winner will be announced on Thursday 10th of June 2010.

** And yeah Rob Fyfe didn't really say that and Air New Zealand are not really sponsoring the award but creative license has never stopped old media making shit up either.