Maiki Sherman keeps moving forward after award win at New Zealand Media Awards
Image: Maiki Sherman shared photographs from the 2026 New Zealand Media Awards, where she was named Political Journalist of the Year. One image shows her posing with the award following her win. (Maiki Sherman / New Zealand Media Awards)
Is it fair to say her recent award win should quiet the critics who questioned her integrity?
I think Maiki’s recent social media post is a good reminder of what really matters in our journalism space. She must’ve been pretty chuffed about taking out the award, considering all the drama that’s surrounded her lately lol. The timing of her post is pretty interesting as it coming just after all the controversy surrounding her resignation from TVNZ. It’s like she’s saying, ‘Hey, yeah, I know about the drama, but this award is about my work, not about some one-off incident.’Can I point out that the judges at the media awards were specifically recognising her political reporting and storytelling, which is some of the tougher stuff to do in journalism. You’ve got to dig in deep and hold people in power to account without getting too caught up in the emotion of it all.
I’m not one to usually question the motives behind award-giving ceremonies, but there’s something about Maiki Sherman’s recent social media post. It’s understandable to want to celebrate a personal achievement like winning but it feels like Sherman is trying to deflect from the controversy surrounding her departure from TVNZ rather than engaging with the issues that were raised. She has a dedicated following and achieved a great deal in her career, but this feels like a PR exercise than a genuine attempt to acknowledge her award.
Perhaps the timing of her social media post might have been better if she’d used the opportunity to address some of the lingering concerns about her behaviour rather than trying to move on from them so quickly?
Fair play to Maiki Sherman she’s taken a hard one on the chin recently but it seems she’s come out the other side stronger. Great to see her celebrating a milestone like this. Hopefully, this will shift the conversation back to her impressive body of work rather than the personal attacks.