Winners of the Outstanding Achievement Awards - Canon Media Awards

Members of the New Zealand media industry paid tribute to journalist Jim Tully and photographer Peter Bush at the Canon Media Awards, held this evening in Auckland, for their extraordinary contribution to media.

Both Jim and Peter were presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award and honoured for their influential role in the industry and the wider community.

Mike Johnston, Country Manager of Canon New Zealand, says, “Jim Tully and Peter Bush have both had exceptional careers and it was wonderful to look back at all they have achieved.”

Peter Bush, Outstanding Achievement Award

Jim Tully is currently the head of Canterbury University’s School of Social and Political Sciences. He spent 18 years working in daily newspapers where he held the positions of editorial manager and assistant editor of the Auckland Star and editor of the 8 O’Clock weekend newspaper, before joining academia.

Jim was the inaugural New Zealand Journalist of the Year in 1978 when the forerunner to the Canon Media Awards was launched. This is his 25th and final year of guiding post graduate students into journalism.

 “In the past 25 years Jim has inspired and shaped the futures of many of the country’s best known journalists and editors. I am sure his experience and wisdom will be greatly missed by his students and colleagues,” says Johnston.

Peter Bush, a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit and Queen’s Service Medal, started his photojournalist career as a cadet for the New Zealand Herald in 1948 and shot his first All Blacks Game in 1949 on glass plates.

Johnston says, “Peter Bush’s career is legendary. He has been a fixture on the sidelines of All Blacks test matches over the past six decades, while also finding time for news and landscape photography.

“Peter has been a devoted Canon EOS user for some time and his images capture all the energy, emotion and history of our nation’s favourite sport.  We are incredibly proud to be able to recognise Peter’s career and honour him with this award,” says Johnston.