2021 Queensland Clarion Awards Winners
All Media categories
Rural Journalism supported by Rural Press Club
- Jemima Burt, ABC Far North, Queensland Bulletin and YouTube, “Weipa under the thumb of Rio Tinto”
Health Reporting supported by MEAA
- Michael Atkin, ABC News Online and ABC 7.30, “Home Care Desperation – The Long Wait For Help”
Business Journalism supported by MEAA
- Liam Walsh, Jenny Wiggins, Jonathan Shapiro and Hans van Leeuwen, The Australian Financial Review, “Ploughing into Greensill’s Aussie interests”
Commentary, Analysis, Opinion & Critique supported by MEAA
- Peter McCutcheon, ABC News Online, “Queensland election politics”
Sports Journalism supported by QSport
- Rikki-Lee Arnold, QWeekend and www.couriermail.com.au, “Tackling the Taboos”
Multicultural Reporting supported by MEAA
- Jessica Rendall, ABC News Online and 7pm TV News, “Migrant Voters”
Social Issues Reporting supported by Independent Education Union
- Leanne Edmistone, QWeekend,The Courier-Mail and couriermail.com.au, “Just Call Me Dad”
Indigenous Issues Reporting supported by Queensland Council of Unions
- Michael Atkin, ABC 7.30 and ABC News Online, “Abuse Of Power: Sexual Abuse Allegations In Youth Detention”
Broadcast Interview supported by QLD Police Union
- Peter Fegan and Rebeka Powell, Nine News, “Andrew Laming”
Artwork, Cartoon, Illustration or Graphic supported by Media Super
- Lewi Hirvela, iView, ABC Weekend Breakfast and ABC News Channel, “Australian Dinosaurs in 3D”
Innovation supported by Telstra
- Tim Leslie, Simon Elvery, Georgina Piper, Cristen Tilley and Matt Liddy, ABC News Digital, “Why after a century of talking about climate change, now is the time to act”
Three Headings supported by Ten News First
- Renard Peters, The Courier-Mail and Brisbane Sunday Mail, “Sport Courier-Mail”
Most Outstanding Final Year Journalism Student – Graduating 2021 supported by O’Brien Accountants
- Sarah Richards, ABC Online, “Stories about people with disabilities”
New Journalist of the Year supported by MEAA
- Elise Williams, The Sunday Mail and The Courier-Mail, “Body of Work”
Print/Text categories
Print/Text News Report supported by Nine Queensland
- Emily Toxward, Gold Coast Bulletin and online, “The silicosis crisis that’s killing young stonemasons”
Print/Text Feature Article supported by Local Government Association of Queensland
- Kate Kyriacou, The Sunday-Mail, “You’ve Got Three Minutes to Save My Life”
Radio/Audio categories
Radio News Current Affairs supported by MEAA
- Josh Robertson, ABC AM, “Cover up in aged care”
Radio Documentary and podcast supported by Media Super
- Amanda Gearing and the Guardian team, The Guardian and The Guardian Podcast, “Coercive control laws would have saved their lives”
Photography categories
Best Metropolitan News Photograph supported by MEAA
- Annette Dew, The Courier-Mail, “The Face of the Pandemic – A Daughter Grieves Alone”
Photographic Essay supported by MEAA
- Brian Cassey, The Courier-Mail and The Australian, “Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left Behind”
Television/Audio Visual categories
TV News Report supported by MEAA
- Peter Fegan and Rebeka Powell, Nine News, “Andrew Laming”
TV Current Affairs, Feature, Documentary or Special Broadcast supported by QLD Police Union
- Rebecca Armstrong, Angela Leonardi, Quentin McDermott and Helen Grasswill, ABC Australian Stor y , “About a Boy”
The John Bean Memorial Award for Television Camerawork supported by ABC
- Scott Kyle, ABC Television, “730 Christmas Island”
Regional and Community categories
Regional And Community Feature Article or Opinion Piece supported by Serafino Wines
- Joe Hinchcliffe, The Fassifern Guardian & Tribune, “Death of a Saleyard”
Regional And Community News Report – Print/Text supported by MEAA
- Lea Emery, Gold Coast Bulletin, “The human face of domestic violence”
Regional and Community – Broadcast Report supported by MEAA
- Rachel McGhee, ABC News 7PM TV bulletin, “Golden age of drag”
Regional and Community: News Photograph supported by Seven Network (Brisbane)
- Brendan Radke, The Cairns Post, The Courier Mail, The Australian, The Townsville Bulletin, The Gold Coast Bulletin and The Daily Telegraph , “Arrest of a murder suspect”
Major Awards
Investigative Journalism supported by MEAA
- Mark Willacy and Rory Callinan, ABC News Online, “Who Dares Kills”
Journalist of the Year supported by MEAA
- Peter Fegan and Rebeka Powell
Outstanding Contribution supported by The University of QLD
- Ann Lund
From ABC:
2021 Queensland Clarion Awards
The ABC has won 13 awards at the 2021 MEAA Queensland Clarion Awards, including for Rural Journalism, Investigative Journalism, Health Reporting, Indigenous Issues Reporting, Innovation, Radio Current Affairs, TV Current Affairs and Television Camerawork.
The Clarions recognise the State’s most outstanding reporting over the past year.
Mark Willacy from the ABC Investigations team again took home the award for Investigative Journalism, this time sharing the award with Rory Callinan for their reporting “Who Dares Kills”, part of the long-running probe into alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
The judges said: their “dogged investigation uncovered new details of the senseless slaughter of civilians in Afghanistan by Australia’s SAS. The behaviour of our most elite soldiers abroad reflects on all Australians and the incidents uncovered were later investigated by the Brereton Inquiry into war crimes.”
Jemima Burt took out the Rural Journalism category from an extremely tough field for “Weipa under the thumb of Rio Tinto”, with the judges praising her as “a great example of a journalist in a regional patch working hard to get an important issue, that sits outside of the regular news cycle, out there”.
Best Regional and Community – Broadcast Report went to Rachel McGhee for “Golden age of Drag”, with the judges saying the story “is a prime example of the importance of how regional journalism helps to build community.”
Michael Atkin from 7.30 won two awards, for Health Reporting and Indigenous Issues Reporting, and was a finalist in another four.
ABC News Digital again took the prize for Innovation, with the award this year going to the ABC Story Lab team of Tim Leslie, Simon Elvery , Georgina Piper , Cristen Tilley and Matt Liddy for an entry the judges said “took the noise out of the climate change debate” with innovative graphics and data analysis.
Peter McCutcheon won for best Commentary, Analysis, Opinion & Critique, Jessica Rendall for Multicultural Reporting and Lewi Hirvela for Artwork, Cartoon, Illustration or Graphic.
Sarah Richards was named Most Outstanding Final Year Journalism Student for her work for ABC Online on people with disabilities, such as this story, which the judges said “explored issues not widely canvassed in the media”.
Josh Robertson won best Radio News Current Affairs for his AM report “Cover up in aged care”, which revealed a five-year cover-up at Eventide Aged Care home in Rockhampton.
The Australian Story episode on nine-year-old Quentin Bayles. “About A Boy”, won the TV Current Affairs, Feature, Documentary or Special Broadcast award for the team of Rebecca Armstrong , Angela Leonardi , Quentin McDermott and Helen Grasswill .
Scott Kyle took out the John Bean Memorial Award for Television Camerawork, which is named in honour of the highly respected ABC cinematographer.
Full list of ABC winners and finalists
Finalists announced for the 66th Walkley Awards
The Walkley Foundation is delighted to announce the finalists for the 66th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
The Walkley Awards, Australia’s pre-eminent national journalism awards, recognise and reward the best in the craft and set the industry standard for excellence.
Louisa Graham, chief executive of the Walkley Foundation, said: “Our warm congratulations to this impressive array of finalists, who have set the standard for best-practice, ethical journalism in Australia in another disrupted year. This is work that makes a difference, that creates change, holds the powerful to account and holds a mirror up to our nation and its culture. It will be a longer wait than usual to announce our winners, but we want to have the best chance at celebrating together as an industry, so we are looking forward to gathering in Tamworth in February 2022.”
Finalists are selected by panels of peers on the basis of overall merit and journalistic excellence. The Walkley Foundation encourages a diversity of entries from journalists around Australia. This year we received 1280 entries.
Judges for this first round are selected by the Walkley Judging Board. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here, and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
The Walkley Foundation has a mechanism for dealing with any conflict of interest, actual or perceived, that may arise during the judging process. The guidelines are based on the principle that all actual conflicts of interest are to be avoided and that even a perceived conflict may be damaging to all parties. You can read more about the conflict of interest guidelines here.
Thanks to the generous support of the NSW Government all Walkley Award winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Tamworth on Friday February 11, following the Walkley Regional Journalism Summit on February 10.
66th Walkley Award finalists
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Award Partner Media Super
- Natassia Chrysanthos , The Sydney Morning Herald , “Hundreds of Sydney students claim they were sexually assaulted”, “‘Pretty dark culture’: Sydney boys’ school heads express regret over rape claims” and “Rape culture reckoning as wave of sexual assault claims unleashed”
- Kate McClymont , The Sydney Morning Herald , “Con Artist of the Century”, “Vanished without a trace: Caddick, the toy boy and the missing millions” and “The Lady Vanishes”
- Ellen Whinnett, Lillian Saleh, Kelvin Healey and Valerie White , The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser , “The AN0M Files”
PUBLIC SERVICE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Sydney Airport
- Avani Dias, Ali Russell, Ange McCormack and Laura McAuliffe , Four Corners , ABC TV and triple j Hack , ABC Radio, “Tinder: A Predators’ Playground”, “Federal Government meets with Tinder after ABC investigation” and “Tinder changes safety policies after Hack investigation”
- Lisa Wilkinson and The Project Team , The Project , Ten, “Brittany Higgins”, “Lisa Wilkinson editorial” and “Canberra March4Justice”
- Naaman Zhou , Guardian Australia, “Australia’s delivery deaths: the riders who never made it and the families left behind”, “’They don’t have brakes, the tyres are gone’: food delivery companies accused of bike safety failures” and “Uber Eats riders earning as little as $5 for deliveries crossing multiple NSW suburbs”
INNOVATION
Award Partner Google News Initiative
- Kylie Boltin, Ella Rubeli, Ravi Vasavan and Emma Anderson , SBS , “Ravi and Emma”
- Matilda Boseley , Guardian Australia , “Guardian Australia TikTok”
- Mt Resilience Team , ABC , “Mt Resilience”
HEADLINE, CAPTION OR HOOK
- Duska Sulicich , The Age , “Michael rolled, the vote assured, Hallelujah!”, “It’s all a bit cray-cray” and “The Art of the Steal”
- Chris Tinkler , Herald Sun , “SCORN IN THE USA”, “NIGHTMARE ON FLINDERS ST” and “WASTE GATE TUNNEL”
- Cameron Wilson , Crikey , “Where Prince and Tiësto meet Hillsong and Tay-Tay: what we can learn from Scott Morrison’s public Spotify account”, “Australians buy animal wormer ivermectin on Facebook and Telegram to treat COVID” and “How Australia’s tattoo community is taking on a law it says could kill the industry”
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner Facebook
- Tim Elliott , Good Weekend , Nine, “Knives Out”
- Melissa Fyfe , Good Weekend , Nine, “The death of Ashleigh Petrie”
- Andrew Quilty , The Monthly , “The Worst Form of Defence: New revelations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan”
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Megan Lehmann , The Australian, “The Aftermath”
- Karen Middleton , The Saturday Paper , “Exit Afghanistan: Fear and retribution as Taliban takes control”
- Tom Patterson , The Australian , “Searching for a lost soul”
COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Award Partner PwC Indigenous Consulting
- Stefan Armbruster, SBS World News , “Second round vaccinations in Torres Strait”, “Anger in the Torres Strait over Scott Morrison’s undelivered COVID-19 vaccine announcement” and “Australia spent $13 million on this security post in the Torres Strait. A year on, it’s still empty”
- Karla Grant, Julie Nimmo, Michael Carey, Mark Bannerman and the Living Black Team , Living Black, NITV, “Taken”, “Missing Pieces” and “Heritage Victory”
- Laura Murphy-Oates, Lorena Allam, David Maurice Smith and Jeremy Worrall , Guardian Australia , “Australia’s anguish: the Indigenous kids trapped behind bars”, “The WA cops rounding up Indigenous kids: a ‘toxic and racist environment‘” and “‘Hell scared’: how a terrified homeless boy found himself locked up alone in the ‘hole‘”
COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY OR REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
- Andrew Messenger , Northern Daily Leader , “‘You feel so powerless’: little room for kids in rural mental health”, “Banksia Mental Health Unit: children’s services ruled not ‘economies of scale’ in plan for new mental health unit” and “Tamworth Banksia Mental Health modelling says New England North West won’t need more general-purpose beds until 2031”
- Nathan Morris and Kath Sullivan , Landline , ABC, “Welcome back, Darling”
- Cherie von Horchner , Barrier Truth , “Wilcannia abandoned”
CARTOON
Award Partner Epson
- Jon Kudelka , The Saturday Paper , “Duty of Care”
- David Pope , The Canberra Times , “Rollout de Vax”
- David Rowe , The Australian Financial Review , “Spineless”
SPORTS JOURNALISM
- Jessica Halloran, Sharri Markson and Claire Harvey , The Australian , “Drugs, sex, domestic violence: football’s dark cover-up”, “Misguided star waiting at home of rival to exact revenge” and “Crime Squad on trail of NRL cover-up over Sam Burgess claims”
- Caitlin Shea, Greg Hassall and Andrew Cooke , Australian Story , ABC, “Luc Longley: One Giant Leap”
- Michael Warner , Herald Sun , “‘Do Better’: The Secret Collingwood Racism Report”
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
- Alex Coppel, Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser, “The Games that Had to Happen”
- Michael Dodge, Tennis Australia and Instagram, “Unguarded Moments”
- Jason Edwards, Herald Sun and The Australian, “The Crux”
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
Award Partner ABC
- Rachel Mealey , AM and The World Today , ABC, “Port Macquarie Floods”
- Sally Sara and Victoria Pengilley , RN Breakfast and The World Today , ABC, “Afghanistan Interviews”
- Mark Willacy , AM , ABC, “Who Dares Kills”
RADIO/AUDIO FEATURE
- Camille Bianchi and Marc Wright , Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast.com , “The Nurse”
- Angus Grigg and Lap Phan , The Australian Financial Review , “The Sure Thing”
- Alexander Mann, Kevin Nguyen and the Background Briefing team, Background Briefing , ABC Radio National, “The Base Tapes”
PRODUCTION
- Aimee Amiga, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Cormac Lally , Instagram, Facebook and theage.com.au, “Nazis Next Door: Social and Digital Delivery”
- Rhiona-Jade Armont and the 101 East team , Al Jazeera English, “This is Myanmar’s State of Fear”
- Patrick Forrest , Elise Potaka, David Ma and Calliste Weitenberg, The Feed, SBS, “Faking Influence – tv, digital interactive and Instagram”
SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nine News
- Samantha Maiden , news.com.au, “Open Secret: The Brittany Higgins story”
- Michael Warner , Herald Sun , “‘Do Better’: The Secret Collingwood Racism Report”
- Ellen Whinnett , The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Advertiser and The Courier-Mail , “The AN0M Files”
COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Sky News Australia
- Samantha Maiden and the news.com.au team , news.com.au, “Open Secret: The Brittany Higgins story”
- Louise Milligan and the Four Corners Team , Four Corners , ABC, “The Canberra Bubble”
- Laura Tingle and James Elton , 7.30 , ABC, “Women, politics and accountability”
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
- Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, “COVID-19 ICU”
- Justin McManus, The Age, “Anti-Lockdown Protest”
- Brook Mitchell, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Sydney Anti-Lockdown Protest”
BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING
- Angus Grigg and Lap Phan , The Australian Financial Review , “The Sure Thing”
- Max Mason and Jonathan Shapiro , The Australian Financial Review, “Revealed: where alleged fraudster Bill Papas is holed up”, “Miami yachts and luxury cars: Forum’s web of assets” and “On the trail of Bill Papas and Westpac’s missing $285m”
- Caitlyn Rintoul , The West Australian , “Police investigating alleged sexual assault at BHP’s South Flank mine near Newman”, “WA mining giants unite for apology to female mine workers and back calls for sex assault inquiry” and “Mine site sexual harassment inquiry: Submission shows BHP sacked dozens of WA workers”
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Award Partner Canva
- Scott Barbour, ausopen.com, “2021 Australian Open”
- Jake Nowakowski, Herald Sun and The Weekend Australian Magazine, “Superheroes in Lockdown”
- Dean Sewell, The Sun-Herald, “Of Mice and Men”
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
- Dean Brosche , The Feed , SBS, “The Button Man A murderous monster, or a quiet recluse?”
- Simon Hydzik and Matt Anderson , 7NEWS, Sunrise and The Latest , Seven, “Cyclone Seroja Coverage”
- Andy Taylor , ABC TV, “Exposed – The Ghost Train Fire”
TELEVISION/VIDEO NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven
- Amelia Adams , Today and Nine News 6pm , Nine, “Capitol Attack”
- Tim Arvier , Nine News 6pm and Today , Nine, “Ambulance Delays”
- Peter Fegan , Nine News 6pm , Nine, “The Investigation of Andrew Laming”
TELEVISION/VIDEO CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (LESS THAN 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
- Christine Ahern , A Current Affair , Nine, “Epping Disgrace”
- Kathryn Diss , 7.30 , ABC TV, “Inside America’s COVID crisis”
- Elise Potaka, Calliste Weitenberg, David Ma and Patrick Forrest , The Feed, SBS, “Faking Influence”
TELEVISION/VIDEO CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (MORE THAN 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner TEN News First and The Project
- Sarah Ferguson, Tony Jones, Patricia Drum and Lauren Day , Four Corners , ABC, “Fox and the Big Lie”
- Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer , 60 Minutes , Nine, “Nazis Next Door”
- Lisa Wilkinson, Angus Llewellyn and Darryl Brown , The Project , Network Ten, “Brittany Higgins”
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner AGL
- Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer , 60 Minutes and The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald , Nine, “Nazis Next Door”, “Inside Racism HQ: How home-grown neo-Nazis are plotting a white revolution” and “From kickboxing to Adolf Hitler: the neo-Nazi plan to recruit angry young men”
- Louise Milligan, Lucy Carter, Peter Cronau and Jeanavive McGregor , Four Corners , ABC, “Inside the Canberra Bubble”, “Scott Morrison, senators and AFP told of historical rape allegation against Cabinet Minister” and “Bursting the Canberra Bubble”
- Ben Schneiders , The Age and The Sunday Age , “Scientology stashes millions in Australia”, “Scientology is shrinking fast and getting richer. How is this possible?” and “The peculiar experience of being targeted by Scientology”
COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
- Waleed Aly , The Monthly, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald , “Woke Politics and Power”, “Get to root of Mess” and “It makes no sense to ask ‘why Melbourne?‘”
- Tom Dusevic , The Australian , “Why we must temper the joy on vaccine”, “PM delivers a rocket as vax debate goes feral” and “Where the bloody hell are the vaccines, Prime Minister?”
- Katharine Murphy , Guardian Australia , “Brittany Higgins’ shocking story must be a turning point. Women in politics have had enough”, “Canberra’s pale, stale and male tribe is missing the moment – as it did with Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech” and “Scott Morrison’s efforts to engage with women are more ‘me’ than mea culpa”
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD SHORTLIST
Award Partner NSW Government
- Addicted Australia , Jacob Hickey and Darren Dale, Blackfella Films and SBS
- Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra , Ivan O’Mahoney, Wayne Blair and Nel Minchin, In Films, ABC
- Incarceration Nation , Helen Morrison and Dean Gibson, Bacon Factory Films, Bent3land Productions and NITV
2021 NIKON PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE WINNERS
These are not Walkley Awards, but prizes administered by the Walkley Foundation on behalf of Nikon. These photos will also appear in the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography exhibition.
NIKON PHOTO OF THE YEAR
- WINNER: Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Fighting COVID-19 Delta”
NIKON PORTRAIT PRIZE
- WINNER: Brian Cassey, The Australian, “The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa”
Love how the award partner is Seven… 
Congratulations to all the ABC finalists in the 66th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism, announced today.
The ABC has 15 finalists spanning a dozen categories: public service journalism, investigative journalism, coverage of community or regional affairs, sports journalism, innovation, documentary, camerawork, radio/audio news and current affairs, radio/audio feature, TV/video current affairs (short and long) and coverage of a major event or issue.
The 2021 NT Media Awards were held in Darwin last night.
Sky News Darwin bureau chief Matt Cunningham was named Journalist of the Year, while Sarah Matthews named Young Journalist of the Year.
ABC winners at the NT Media Awards
Congratulations to the ABC finalists and winners in the 2021 NT Media Awards, which were held in Darwin on Saturday night.
The awards recognise the importance of telling stories from regional and remote communities and also the national interest in these stories.
The full awards announcement is here.
The ABC winners:
TELEVISION/RADIO
Best Current Affairs or Feature
Matt Garrick, ABC News, “Out of the rubble: life after the miners leave”
Judges comments: Matt Garrick’s series of stories were a standout for the judges this year. The stories were balanced and it was clear that he has spent time and effort building trust and finding a variety of voices to contribute to telling both sides of the debate. It importantly included the voices of the people living in the communities and it was great to see these locals at the centre of the stories. The stories were told with creativity and edited beautifully, making them impactful. The judges recognised the amount of time and resources it would’ve taken to put these stories together and congratulate Matt on these important and insightful stories.
Excellence in Radio Broadcasting
Miranda Tetlow, Late Lunch, ABC Radio Northern Territory, ABC Online and ABC Digital, “A leap of faith: Stories from Northern Territory migrants and refugees”
Judges comments: Excellent interviews, showing compassion and an ability to get the talent to open up. They told their own stories. Beautifully crafted, the conversation flowed and was effortless.
ALL MEDIA
Best Online Coverage
Lauren Roberts, ABC News, “Australia’s vaccine rollout”
Judges comments: Lauren Roberts’ vaccine explainer was a standout in the category and benefitted Territorians and the broader Australian public. Lauren took complex medical information about Covid-19 vaccines and presented the information from experts in a way that was easy to understand and digest. The use of illustrations and interactive sections brilliantly allowed readers to go straight to the answers of their most burning questions. The article helped debunk vaccine myths and common misconceptions at a highly relevant time.
“There were numerous strong entries in this category. The judges would like to commend Jane Bardon’s series on Glencore’s MacArthur River Mine rock dump expansion, which drew attention to a potential and concerning repeat of Rio Tinto’s destruction of an Aboriginal sacred site at Juukan Gorge.
Best Sports Journalism
Eleni Roussos, ABC 7PM, ABC News and ABC News Online, “Teenage karate sensation kicking goals in Central Australia”
Judges comments: Eleni’s submission was a unique and well-told sports story for multiple platforms. The topic and choice of talent showed a willingness to network and gain trust in a remote community. The TV script in particular was well written and engaging. An informative and memorable story.
Winners from tonight’s Kennedy Awards held in Sydney.
Les Kennedy Award for Outstanding Crime Reporting - Kyle Taylor and Elise Worthington (Four Corners)
Paul Lockyer Award for Outstanding Regional Broadcast Journalism - Liz Hayes, Gareth Harvey and Natalie Clancy (60 Minutes)
Chris Watson Award for Outstanding Regional Newspaper Journalism - Ciara Bastow (The Lithgow Mercury)
Rod Allen Award for Racing Writer of the Year - Damien Ractliffe (The Age Sport)
Sean Flannery Award for Outstanding Radio Journalism - Alex Mann and Kevin Nguyen (Background Briefing)
Outstanding Online Video - 7news.com.au
Vince O’Farrell Award for Outstanding Illustration/Cartoon - Cathy Wilcox (Sydney Morning Herald)
Power of the Lens People’s Choice Award - Dallas Kilponen (freelancer)
Outstanding News Photograph - Louise Kennerley (Sydney Morning Herald)
Outstanding Portrait - John Appleyard (Wentworth Courier)
Cliff Neville Award for Outstanding Team Player - Phil Williams (formerly ABC)
Young Journalist of the Year - Natassia Chrysanthos (Sydney Morning Herald)
Outstanding Sports Photograph - Chris Hyde (Getty Images)
Peter Frillingos Award for Outstanding Sports Reporting - Peter Badel, Travis Meyn and Robert Craddock (Courier Mail)
Outstanding Lifetime Achievement - John Laws
Outstanding Podcast - Angus Grigg and Lap Phan (Financial Review)
Gary Ticehurst Award for Outstanding TV Camera Work - Andrew Taylor (ABC News)
Harry Potter Award for Outstanding TV News Reporting - Amelia Adams (Nine News)
Outstanding Long Form Current Affairs Reporting - Peta Credlin (Sky News)
Mike Willesee Award for Outstanding Nightly Current Affairs Reporting - Sharri Markson (Sky News)
Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist - Will Swanton (The Australian)
John Newfong Award for Outstanding Indigenous Affairs Journalism - Fiona Harari (The Australian)
Outstanding Finance Reporting - Michael Roddan (Financial Review)
Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting - Calliste Weitenberg, Elise Potka, and ‘The Feed’ SBS Team (SBS)
Outstanding Online News Breaking - 9 News
Outstanding Court and Legal Affairs Reporting - Lucy Cormack and Kate McClymont (Sydney Morning Herald)
Outstanding Reporting on the Environment - Andy Park, Alex McDonald and Fred Shaw (ABC)
Rebecca Wilson Award for Scoop of the Year - Samantha Maiden (news.com.au)
Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Samantha Maiden (news.com.au)
Jim Oram Award for Outstanding Feature Writing - Kathy Marks (The Australian)
2021
The Kennedy Prize – Journalist of the Year
Outstanding Travel Writing
Outstanding Political Reporting
Outstanding Foreign Correspondent
Outstanding Feature Writing
Outstanding Investigative Reporting
Scoop of the Year
Outstanding Reporting on the Environment
Outstanding Court Reporting
Outstanding Columnist
Outstanding Nightly Television Current Affairs Reporting
Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting Long Form
Outstanding Television News Reporting
Outstanding News Camera Coverage
Lifetime Achievement
Outstanding Sport Reporting
Outstanding Sports Photography
Young Journalist of The Year
Outstanding Team Player
Outstanding Portrait
Outstanding News Photography
People’s Choice Photographic Award
Outstanding Illustration or Cartoon
Outstanding Podcast
Outstanding Online Video
Outstanding Radio Journalism
Racing Writer Of The Year
Regional Newspaper Reporting
Regional Broadcast Reporting
Outstanding Crime Reporting
Indigenous Affairs Reporting
John Newfong Award for Outstanding Indigenous Affairs Journalism - Fiona Harari (The Australian)
Outstanding Finance Reporting
Michael Roddan (Financial Review)
Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting
Calliste Weitenberg, Elise Potka, and ‘The Feed’ SBS Team (SBS)
Outstanding Online News Breaking
9 News
ABC winners at the NSW Kennedy Awards
Congratulations to the ABC finalists and winners at the NSW Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
The ABC took out five major awards, including the Les Kennedy Award for Outstanding Crime Reporting, won by Elise Worthington and Kyle Taylor from the ABC Investigations team for their Four Corners report Enslaved: Surviving A Sex Cult.
Former Chief Foreign Correspondent Phil Williams , who farewelled the ABC this year, was named as Outstanding Team Player.
Andy Park, Alex McDonald and Fred Shaw won the category for Outstanding Reporting on the Environment and Alex Mann and Kevin Nguyen won the Sean Flannery Award for Outstanding Radio Journalism.
Andrew Taylor took home the Gary Ticehurst Award for Outstanding TV Camera Work.
Full list of ABC finalists and winners
The Les Kennedy Award Outstanding Crime Reporting
- Winner: Kyle Taylor, Elise Worthington – Four Corners, ABC TV
- Caro Meldrum-Hanna – ABC TV
The Sean Flannery Award Outstanding Radio Journalism
- Winner: Alex Mann, Kevin Nguyen – Background Briefing, ABC
- Mark Willacy – ABC Investigations
Outstanding News Photo
- Kevin Nguyen – ABC News
- Brendan Esposito – ABC Online
The Cliff Neville Award Outstanding Team Player
- Winner: Phil Williams ABC
Outstanding Sports Reporting
- Quentin McDermott, Greg Hassall – Australian Story
Outstanding Indigenous Affairs Journalism
- Australian Story – ABC
The Gary Ticehurst Award Outstanding TV Camera Work
- Winner: Andrew Taylor – ABC
Outstanding TV News Reporting
- Lorna Knowles – ABC News
Outstanding Nightly Current Affairs
- Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Matt O’Sullivan – 7.30, ABC-TV
Outstanding Long Form Current Affairs
- Caro Meldrum-Hanna – ABC
- Adele Ferguson – ABC
Outstanding Reporting on the Environment
- Winner: Andy Park, Alex McDonald, Fred Shaw – 7.30, ABC TV
Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting
- Kevin Nguyen – ABC
Outstanding Court & Legal Affairs Reporting
- Winsome Denyer – Australian Story
- Amy Bainbridge – ABC
Outstanding Investigative Journalism
- Elise Worthington & Kyle Taylor – Four Corners, ABC-TV
Outstanding Feature Writing
- Tracey Shelton – abc.net.au
Outstanding Political Reporting
- Paul Farrell, Alex McDonald, Kirsten Robb – 730, ABC-TV
Outstanding Foreign Correspondent
- Sarah Ferguson – Foreign Correspondent, ABC-TV
Media contact: Sally Jackson | ABC Communications
Australian Financial Review’s Michael Roddan made a quip about the Kennedys being the “Bogan Walkleys” while he picked up a trophy for financial journalism.
It got a big laugh from the crowd but organisers took immediate offence, dimming the lights and ushering him off stage.
Minutes later, he was approached by a man who said it was time to leave and he was ejected.
The 2021 WA Media Awards were held at a cocktail function in Perth last night. 6PR’s Gareth Parker was named Journalist of the Year.
(The link to the article is correct, despite what the caption said about the 2019 awards)
Also:
Top accolades for 9News, 6PR & WAtoday at 2021 WA Media Awards
GARETH PARKER NAMED JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Nine Perth’s commitment to quality journalism has been recognised by the judges of the WA Media Awards, with 9News Perth, WAtoday and 6PR taking out a mammoth ten categories at Saturday night’s prestigious event.
6PR Breakfast presenter Gareth Parker won several awards, including the top award for WA Journalist of the Year for his bombshell exposé highlighting conflicts of interest and cronyism exposing the lax Government supervision of WA’s only casino. Parker was also awarded Best Political Report, Best Business, Economics or Finance Report, and Best Columnist. The judges made mention of the way Parker used his cross-platform presence to spark debate, accountability and speak to West Australian’s about why they should care.
6PR Content Manager, Emily White congratulated Parker, saying
“Gareth’s awards are fantastic recognition, not just of the work he puts in to keep 6PR’s listeners informed about issues that affect them, this city and the broader state, but also the work he has put in over the last 15 plus years building his career and credibility across multiple mediums.
“We’re thrilled Gareth has also been recognised for his contributions across the Nine family with both WAtoday and 9News.”
9News Perth’s Gary Adshead and Kamin Gock were awarded Best Television News Report and Best Health/Medical Report for their work covering the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Ashwath. Her death at Perth’s revered children’s hospital was not only a personal tragedy; it laid bare WA’s struggling hospital systems.
9News Perth Director of News, Michael Best, congratulated the teams on their well-earned win.
“We’re immensely proud; the awards are recognition for the entire newsroom because these stories aren’t produced in isolation. It’s fantastic to see that all the hard work and the collaboration between 9News Perth, 6PR and WAToday is making an impact and being recognised,” he said.
“More important than the awards is the fact that a disgraceful situation that claimed a young girl’s life was exposed. Change is already happening, and Aishwarya’s parents are leading the drive to ensure other West Australian children receive the care they should.”
WAtoday also received several accolades with reporter Emma Young’s “Another plan bites the dust as WA’s best-loved bird quietly dies out” wining the Science and Environmental Report Prize. Her ground-breaking work investigated important environmental issues for the Perth and Peel regions, highlighting the heavy cost of environment inaction in the process.
WAtoday’s Marta Pascual Juanola’s “Wrong skin’ tragedy: death, drugs and violence in a divided town” won the Best Social Equity Report and Best Feature Writing Report. Juanola’s harrowing account of a night in a young lady’s life, tragically cut short at the hands of another, stood out for it’s beautiful storytelling, sensitivity, and depth.
Also, WAtoday reporter Aja Styles won The Arthur Lovekin Award “Stink from the Corpse” for placing the WA higher education sector under the spotlight. Styles investigated the threats posed to academic freedom, quality education and WA’s research culture by COVID, due to chronic mismanagement and the loss of government funding.
WAtoday Editor, Daile Cross, is immensely proud of her team’s achievements, saying “The journalists working at WAtoday are dedicated to high quality reporting in the public interest. We have the State’s top reporters writing for us and these awards demonstrate our commitment to the truth, willingness to take on tough subjects and strength in news reporting, feature writing and opinion.
“Together with 9News Perth and 6PR we are a formidable force in news and look forward to bringing the community more important stories.”
WA Media Awards
Mark Bennett, part of the ABC’s Regional & Local team and based in the ABC’s Great Southern Bureau, has been awarded the Clarion Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism in the state at the WA Media Awards
“(Mark’s) stories don’t come from politicians or press releases, but from community groups, farmers, naturalists, truck drivers, refugees and countless others who have something compelling to say and he gives them a voice,” the judges said.
“Not posted for clicks but told out of genuine interest, care and compassion for the on-air talent and the audience. His work is driven by the belief that he’s performing a service for the community.”
The ABC’s other winners at the weekend awards included Rhiannon Shine, winner of the Multimedia Journalism category for her story “ A Courageous Woman”, which the judges described as “compelling” and showing “a unique sense of compassion and sensitivity.”
“Her creativity as well as deft approach to digital storytelling that involves more than three components including social media and online shines a light on the power of new age journalism, ” they said.
In Radio/Audio Journalism, Alex Mann from Background Briefing won the News Story or Feature category for “The Base Tapes”, which reveal how a global white supremacist terror group recruited young Australian men. Listen to part one and part two. The judges described the reporting as “brave, powerful and demonstrating investigative journalism at its finest”.
Eliza Laschon, Meghan Woods, Kate Leaver, Dustin Skipworth and Adriano Sardi were also finalists in this category for “Matters of State – WA Votes”.
Hinako Shiraishi from ABC Kimberley won the Community/Regional Photography prize for her “quirky, fun and definitely one of a kind” work “Peanut the Calf”.
Other finalists included Claire Moodie and team and Fiona Pepper (Science and Environment Report), Hannah Barry and Erin Parke (Regional and Community – Three News Stories/Features outside a 70km radius of Perth), Hugh Sando (a finalist in the Feature Photograph/Photographic Essay category for his work during Cyclone Seroja) and Ben Collins (Feature Writing).
The full list of finalists and winners is here.
SA Press Club Awards held last night…
All the winners of 2021 SA Press Club Media Awards can be found here