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Mike White (journalist)
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Mike White is a New Zealand investigative journalist and author, and former foreign correspondent (Afghanistan and Iraq). He has been called one of New Zealand's "top journalists."<ref></ref> He has written two books and has won many awards for his magazine articles on themes of justice within New Zealand.<ref name=":0">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> He is also an awarded travel writer. White has won New Zealand Feature Writer of the Year (Qantas / Canon / Voyager Media Awards) three times, and a Wolfson Fellowship to Cambridge University. He has also won the Cathay Pacific New Zealand Travel Writer of the Year title three times.
White grew up near Blenheim, and graduated with a political science degree from Canterbury University in the mid-80s. <ref name=":1">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> In 1996, he graduated from the Wellington Polytechnic (now Massey University) School of Journalism. After six years working as reporter and chief reporter for the Marlborough Express in Blenheim, New Zealand, he left to work as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan and Iraq. <ref name=":1" />
In 2003 White returned to New Zealand to write full-time for North & South, a current affairs monthly magazine. He is now North & South's senior staff writer, and is based in Wellington.<ref name=":1" />
In an eight-page North & South article in 2015 (Long Walk to Justice)<ref name=":2"></ref> White asked if New Zealand's justice system should establish an independent commission to investigate wrongful convictions. White researched this story in the UK during his Wolfson Press Fellowship to Cambridge University. <ref name=":2" />
Mike covered the Ben Smart and Olivia Hope/Scott Watson case as a reporter on the Marlborough Express from 1998;<ref></ref> he revisited the case for North & South in December 2007. In 2014 Scott Watson invited Mike to interview him in prison, having maintained his innocence for 18 years. The Corrections department sought to prevent that meeting. It took more than a year and a hearing in the High Court to overturn that decision.<ref name=":0" /> White described the widely reported verdict<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> <ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>as a "win for journalism."<ref></ref> <ref name=":3">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
"The judge has realised that journalists have a special role in investigating cases of potential miscarriage of justice and has enforced that role. In certain circumstances, journalists do have a responsibility to investigate these cases and the best way to do that is by talking to the people who have been convicted and imprisoned." <ref name=":3" />
White's story on the interview with Watson in Rolleston Prison was published in North & South in December 2015.<ref></ref> In January 2017, Mike covered the first meeting between Scott Watson and Olivia's father, Gerald Hope, also held in Rolleston Prison.<ref></ref>
White has also written extensively on the Lundy case. In 2015 he spent two months in Courtroom One at Wellington's High Court, covering the retrial of Mark Lundy. It's a case he had already followed for seven years. His 18-page story: The Lundy Murders: What the Jury Didn't Hear, in North & South's February 2009 issue, led to international lawyers and experts joining Lundy's team and eventually having his conviction quashed by the Privy Council in 2013. White's story on Lundy's trial and reconviction in May 2015 examined whether the justice system was able to cope with such a complex case – and if the jury got it right.
In 2017 White and his long time partner, journalist Nikki McDonald, took over the editing of long-form journalism website Featured.org.nz from Naomi Arnold.☃☃
In 2017 White and his long time partner, journalist Nikki McDonald, took over the editing of long-form journalism website Featured.org.nz from Naomi Arnold.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
== Awards ==
* 2004 Qantas Media Awards: Environment & Conservation (best feature) <ref name=":4">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 2004 Citigroup Journalism Awards for Excellence: General Business Category Winner<ref name=":4" />
* 2005 Qantas Media Awards Government, Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs Winner <ref> Scoop News|last=Monday|last2=May 2005|first2=16|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=8:30 am Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2005 Qantas Media Awards Science and Technology Winner <ref> Scoop News|last=Monday|last2=May 2005|first2=16|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=8:30 am Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2006 Cathay Pacific Travel Media Awards Travel Writer of The Year. <ref name=":5">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 2007 Qantas Media Awards Magazine Feature Writer of the Year <ref name=":6"> Scoop News|last=Monday|last2=May 2007|first2=21|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=9:37 am Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2007 Qantas Media Awards Crime & Justice <ref name=":6" />
* 2007 Qantas Media Awards Science & Technology <ref name=":6" />
* 2008 MPA Awards Journalist of the Year Supreme Winner & Current Affairs Winner
* 2008 Qantas Media Awards Sport & Racing <ref name=":7"> Scoop News|last=Saturday|last2=May 2008|first2=10|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Awards|first3=4:26 pm Press Release: Qantas Media}}</ref>
* 2008 Qantas Media Awards Crime & Justice <ref name=":7" />
* 2009 Qantas Media Awards Technology & Science, Device Technologies Award <ref> Scoop News|last=Saturday|last2=May 2009|first2=16|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Awards|first3=1:19 pm Press Release: Qantas Media}}</ref>
* 2010 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Article Written About New Zealand <ref name=":5" />
* 2010 Qantas Media Awards Best Profile <ref> Scoop News|last=Tuesday|last2=June 2010|first2=15|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=12:26 pm Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2011 Canon Media Awards Feature Writer Science/environment <ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 2012 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards: Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Story about New Zealand <ref name=":5" />
* 2013 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Story about New Zealand <ref name=":5" />
* 2013 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards NZ Maori Tourism Award for the Best Travel Story about a Maori Tourism Experience <ref name=":5" />
* 2014 Canon Media Awards Magazine Feature Writer, Science and Environment <ref></ref>
* 2014 Wolfson Fellowship to the University of Cambridge <ref></ref>
* 2014 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Story about New Zealand Winner <ref name=":5" /> <ref></ref>
* 2014 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards NZ Maori Tourism Award for the Best Travel Story about a Maori Tourism Experience <ref name=":5" />
== Books ==
* 2015 Who Killed Scott Guy? Allen & Unwin. <nowiki>ISBN 9781877505478</nowiki>
* 2019 How to Walk a Dog, Allen & Unwin. <nowiki>ISBN 9781988547206</nowiki>
== References ==
<br />
<references />
White grew up near Blenheim, and graduated with a political science degree from Canterbury University in the mid-80s. <ref name=":1">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> In 1996, he graduated from the Wellington Polytechnic (now Massey University) School of Journalism. After six years working as reporter and chief reporter for the Marlborough Express in Blenheim, New Zealand, he left to work as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan and Iraq. <ref name=":1" />
In 2003 White returned to New Zealand to write full-time for North & South, a current affairs monthly magazine. He is now North & South's senior staff writer, and is based in Wellington.<ref name=":1" />
In an eight-page North & South article in 2015 (Long Walk to Justice)<ref name=":2"></ref> White asked if New Zealand's justice system should establish an independent commission to investigate wrongful convictions. White researched this story in the UK during his Wolfson Press Fellowship to Cambridge University. <ref name=":2" />
Mike covered the Ben Smart and Olivia Hope/Scott Watson case as a reporter on the Marlborough Express from 1998;<ref></ref> he revisited the case for North & South in December 2007. In 2014 Scott Watson invited Mike to interview him in prison, having maintained his innocence for 18 years. The Corrections department sought to prevent that meeting. It took more than a year and a hearing in the High Court to overturn that decision.<ref name=":0" /> White described the widely reported verdict<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> <ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>as a "win for journalism."<ref></ref> <ref name=":3">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
"The judge has realised that journalists have a special role in investigating cases of potential miscarriage of justice and has enforced that role. In certain circumstances, journalists do have a responsibility to investigate these cases and the best way to do that is by talking to the people who have been convicted and imprisoned." <ref name=":3" />
White's story on the interview with Watson in Rolleston Prison was published in North & South in December 2015.<ref></ref> In January 2017, Mike covered the first meeting between Scott Watson and Olivia's father, Gerald Hope, also held in Rolleston Prison.<ref></ref>
White has also written extensively on the Lundy case. In 2015 he spent two months in Courtroom One at Wellington's High Court, covering the retrial of Mark Lundy. It's a case he had already followed for seven years. His 18-page story: The Lundy Murders: What the Jury Didn't Hear, in North & South's February 2009 issue, led to international lawyers and experts joining Lundy's team and eventually having his conviction quashed by the Privy Council in 2013. White's story on Lundy's trial and reconviction in May 2015 examined whether the justice system was able to cope with such a complex case – and if the jury got it right.
In 2017 White and his long time partner, journalist Nikki McDonald, took over the editing of long-form journalism website Featured.org.nz from Naomi Arnold.☃☃
In 2017 White and his long time partner, journalist Nikki McDonald, took over the editing of long-form journalism website Featured.org.nz from Naomi Arnold.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
== Awards ==
* 2004 Qantas Media Awards: Environment & Conservation (best feature) <ref name=":4">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 2004 Citigroup Journalism Awards for Excellence: General Business Category Winner<ref name=":4" />
* 2005 Qantas Media Awards Government, Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs Winner <ref> Scoop News|last=Monday|last2=May 2005|first2=16|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=8:30 am Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2005 Qantas Media Awards Science and Technology Winner <ref> Scoop News|last=Monday|last2=May 2005|first2=16|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=8:30 am Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2006 Cathay Pacific Travel Media Awards Travel Writer of The Year. <ref name=":5">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 2007 Qantas Media Awards Magazine Feature Writer of the Year <ref name=":6"> Scoop News|last=Monday|last2=May 2007|first2=21|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=9:37 am Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2007 Qantas Media Awards Crime & Justice <ref name=":6" />
* 2007 Qantas Media Awards Science & Technology <ref name=":6" />
* 2008 MPA Awards Journalist of the Year Supreme Winner & Current Affairs Winner
* 2008 Qantas Media Awards Sport & Racing <ref name=":7"> Scoop News|last=Saturday|last2=May 2008|first2=10|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Awards|first3=4:26 pm Press Release: Qantas Media}}</ref>
* 2008 Qantas Media Awards Crime & Justice <ref name=":7" />
* 2009 Qantas Media Awards Technology & Science, Device Technologies Award <ref> Scoop News|last=Saturday|last2=May 2009|first2=16|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Awards|first3=1:19 pm Press Release: Qantas Media}}</ref>
* 2010 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Article Written About New Zealand <ref name=":5" />
* 2010 Qantas Media Awards Best Profile <ref> Scoop News|last=Tuesday|last2=June 2010|first2=15|website=www.scoop.co.nz|access-date=2019-08-03|last3=Media|first3=12:26 pm Press Release: ACP}}</ref>
* 2011 Canon Media Awards Feature Writer Science/environment <ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 2012 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards: Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Story about New Zealand <ref name=":5" />
* 2013 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Story about New Zealand <ref name=":5" />
* 2013 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards NZ Maori Tourism Award for the Best Travel Story about a Maori Tourism Experience <ref name=":5" />
* 2014 Canon Media Awards Magazine Feature Writer, Science and Environment <ref></ref>
* 2014 Wolfson Fellowship to the University of Cambridge <ref></ref>
* 2014 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards Heritage Hotels Award for the Best Travel Story about New Zealand Winner <ref name=":5" /> <ref></ref>
* 2014 Cathay Pacific Travel Awards NZ Maori Tourism Award for the Best Travel Story about a Maori Tourism Experience <ref name=":5" />
== Books ==
* 2015 Who Killed Scott Guy? Allen & Unwin. <nowiki>ISBN 9781877505478</nowiki>
* 2019 How to Walk a Dog, Allen & Unwin. <nowiki>ISBN 9781988547206</nowiki>
== References ==
<br />
<references />
August 03, 2019 at 12:48PM
