Maiki Sherman’s win is bigger than the smear campaign

OPINION: There is something deeply telling about the timing of Maiki Sherman’s latest award. After a wave of smear attacks, political pile-ons and online commentary aimed at Sherman’s credibility as a high profile journalist, she has emerged with one thing her critics could not strip away. Professional recognition from her peers.

In New Zealand media, awards are earned through years of relentless work and the ability to deliver journalism that cuts through noise and reaches the public. Sherman has done exactly that throughout her career.

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Image: Maiki Sherman after winning Political Reporter of the Year at the 2026 New Zealand Media Awards. (Supplied / Tuia News & Aukaha News)

Tuia News & Aukaha News congratulated Sherman on winning Political Reporter of the Year at the NZ Media Awards 2026, a major recognition of her standing as one of the country’s leading political journalists.

From Māori media to the parliamentary press gallery and eventually becoming TVNZ’s first Māori political editor, Sherman’s rise was not some sort of accident. It was built newsroom by newsroom, story by story, in one of the toughest reporting environments in the country.

Image: ACT leader David Seymour addresses reporters at Parliament on April 28, where he described Ani O’Brien as “one woman with a free Substack account” and claimed the allegations had been hidden by a year-long “conspiracy of silence”. (Screenshot / parliamentary media stand-up / ACT Party)

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That is why the campaign against Sherman became so ugly. The matter spiralled into a public spectacle amplified by fringe micro-blogger Ani O’Brien and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour eager to turn her into a symbol for wider cultural grievances.

The involvement of smear merchants, including support from the Deputy PM pushed through Substack and online channels, raised serious questions about how quickly parts of New Zealand’s conservative political culture attempted to discredit journalists they dislike.

There was an unmistakable undertone running through the backlash that unfolded. A high-profile Māori woman in one of the country’s most influential journalism roles became a lightning rod for people already hostile toward mainstream media, Māori representation and political reporting itself. Despite all of that, the award cuts through with brutal simplicity.

Such attempts to reduce an accomplished political reporter to a controversy headline ultimately failed.

Image: Former TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman, who resigned following controversy surrounding allegations publicised online and the intense scrutiny that followed. (TVNZ)

There is an uncomfortable reality here for those who celebrated Sherman’s downfall. Journalism is credible through consistency and impact over time and her career already had that foundation long before the controversy erupted.

The award now reinforces it.

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