Ms Williams, who joined the ODT this year, focuses on delving deep into the issues affecting people in the South.
Her series on homelessness has garnered national attention while uncovering the appalling living conditions in many Dunedin boarding houses.
Miss Ellis has worked for Allied Press in Gore, Christchurch and Dunedin for nearly four years.
Her reporting on cuts to the new Dunedin hospital has been instrumental in putting pressure on the government to claw back some of the changes it made to the new build.
The award, for editorial excellence, is presented annually on the anniversary of the November 15, 1861, publication of the first issue of the ODT, New Zealand’s oldest daily newspaper.
The award is named for Judge W.H. Valpy, one of the founders in 1851 of the weekly Otago Witness, which later amalgamated with the ODT.
