The Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA) monthly publication Ka Wai Ola News has received four Indigenous Media Awards from the Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA), while two Ka Wai Ola News contributors received awards for their excellent work with other media outlets.
The annual media competition recognizes excellence in Indigenous reporting and storytelling. In addition to newspaper writing, IJA also presents awards in categories such as television, radio and podcasts, photography, and multi-media.
Ka Wai Ola News competes in the Large Outlets/Professional Division III for media outlets with circulation exceeding 10,000. Ka Wai Ola News currently has approximately 70,000 direct mail and digital subscribers in Hawaiʻi and on the continent.
This year, Ka Wai Ola News was honored with a second-place award in the “Best Multi-Media” category for Restoring ʻĀina Momona in Heʻeia, a print/video story collaboration by Editor Puanani Fernandez-Akamine and Multi-media Designer Jason Lees.
The print version of Restoring ʻĀina Momona in Heʻeia also received a first-place award in the “Best Longform” (longer, magazine-style stories) category, while Rebuilding Maui, also by Fernandez-Akamine, took third place in the same category.
Reclaiming Hāʻena, a collaboration between OHA Trustee Dan Ahuna and Fernandez-Akamine received a third-place award in IJA’s “Best Shortform” category.
In addition, Ka Wai Ola News freelance writer Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton who writes our “Faces of the Diaspora” series received a third-place award in the “Best Editorial” category for a piece she wrote for the Seattle Times.
And Naka Nathaniel, an occasional Ka Wai Ola News contributor, and colleague Mahealani duPont, were honored with a first-place award in the “Radio/Podcast – Excellence in Beat Reporting” category for their story, Mauna Kea Kanawai, featured on Hawaiʻi Public Radio’s “Hawaiʻi Radio Hour.”
Nathaniel and duPont, along with Kolby Akamu Moser, Mileka Lincoln, and Gilian Santiago, also received a second-place IJA award in the “Radio/Podcast – General Excellence” category for “Hawaiʻi Radio Hour.”
 monthly publication Ka Wai Ola News has received four Indigenous Media Awards from the Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA), while two Ka Wai Ola News contributors received awards for their excellent work with other media outlets.){kind=link}