Finalists for the 2023 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism have been announced.
Walkley Foundation CEO Shona Martyn said the calibre of the entries was high.
“Judging sessions went into extra time as judges weighed up the top entries in highly competitive fields.” she said.
“Everyone selected as a finalist should feel hugely proud. There was a pleasing breadth in the entries too with journalists from across Australia, from news organisations big and small, producing high quality stories on a vast range of topics.”
Winners will be announced June 15.
The John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards
Supported by Jibb Foundation
These awards recognise the hard work of our most outstanding young Australian journalists. They reward the efforts of journalists aged 28 and under who demonstrate excellence in the fundamental tenets of the profession, as well as the ability to present distinctive and original journalism that pushes the boundaries of the craft.
The winner of each of the six categories below will be eligible for the overall Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award. The ultimate winner will receive a two-week international trip to newsrooms (flights included) and a mentorship program to boost their career.
The winner of each of the six categories will receive a complimentary place in an AGSM short course at UNSW Business School. The AGSM Client Engagement team will assist the winners to identify the course most relevant to their development. All courses earn credit towards the AGSM Certificate of Executive Management and Development which, in turn, carries course credit into the AGSM MBA and Graduate Certificates.
Shortform journalism
Supported by ABC
- Fleur Connick, Guardian Australia, “Rural water quality investigations” (1| 2| 3)
- Claudia Farhart, SBS, “2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes” (1| 2| 3)
- Paul Sakkal, The Age, “Operation Daintree: Daniel Andrews under direct investigation in new IBAC probe” ( 1| 2)
Longform feature or special
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Xanthe Gregory, ABC, “The Eugowra flood disaster” (1)
- Joey Watson, Guardian Australia, “Inside Australia’s secretive torture survival course for elite soldiers” (1)
- Daryna Zadvirna, The West Australian, “My Ukraine: Inside the Warzone” (1)
Coverage of community and regional affairs
- Xanthe Gregory, ABC 7.30 and ABC News, “The Eugowra flood disaster” (1)
- Melissa Mackay, ABC News, “Unjust Justice” (1 | 2 | 3)
- Hannah Walsh, ABC, “Parents receive apology from Mackay Base Hospital nine years after baby’s death” (1)
Visual storytelling
Supported by News Corp Australia
- Rhiona-Jade Armont, Dateline, SBS, “Now You See Me: The Search for Syria’s Missing” (1)
- Julian Fell, ABC News, “How the seeds of the 2022 election result were sown years ago”, “Wrenching the blackbox open”, and “What’s your personal rate of inflation” (1 | 2 | 3)
- Daryna Zadvirna, The West Australian, YouTube, “My Ukraine: Inside the Warzone” ( 1| 2)
Public service journalism
Supported by Telum Media
- Brooke Fryer, SBS, “Vanished: The unsolved cases of First Nations women” (1 | 2)
- Lydia Lynch, The Australian, “Lydia Lynch” (1)
- Liam Mendes, The Australian, “Alice Springs”
Student journalist of the year
Supported by University of Sydney
- Grace Baldwin, Monash University / Herald Sun, “Bailey Smith’s first interview: ‘I went days without getting out of bed’”; “Sinister cult recruiters targeting people at Melbourne landmarks”; “Nazi lark has no excuse” (1 | 2)
- Angus Delaney, Swinburne University of Technology / Freelance, “Fiji dogged by strays after Covid breeding boom”; “Why the fight for marriage equality in Fiji divides LGBTQ+ activists”; “Call for Fiji to end pay gap between men and women rugby players” (1 | 2 | 3)
- Grace Nakamura, University of Queensland / *PS Media Logan / Deutsche Welle, “Logan’s Last Cane Farm ‘Doomed’ By New Highway’”; “Deutsche Welle ‘Inside Europe’ podcast”; “‘Ruined’: Logan Woman’s Agony As New Flood Maps Make $2.5m Property ‘Worthless’” (1 | 2 | 3)
June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting
Supported by MEAA
- David Marin-Guzman, The Australian Financial Review, “Pub chain sacks casuals ahead of Australia Day to avoid penalties” (1)
- Ewin Hannan, The Australian, “Industrial relations laws revealed” (1 | 2 | 3)
- Max Mason, The Australian Financial Review, “Top accounting firm sacked woman who alleged sexual assault” (1 | 2 | 3)
June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year
Supported by Media Super and MEAA
- Patrick Abboud, Audible Podcasts, SBS Television / SBS OnDemand, The Project / Network 10, “Patrick Abboud” (1, 2, 3)
- Caroline Winter , Apple Podcasts, Sick As A Dog website, “Sick As A Dog: An industry in crisis” (1, 2, 3)
- Nina Funnell, news.com.au, “Justice Shouldn’t Hurt” (1, 2, 3)
June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media
Supported by PwC
- Nina Funnell, news.com.au, “Justice Shouldn’t Hurt: Listening to regional voices on sexual violence” (1, 2, 3)
- Sherele Moody, NT News and other News Corp outlets, “She Matters: Telling the stories of women lost to violence” (1, 2, 3)
- Tamara McDonald, Geelong Advertiser, “Tamara McDonald body of work”
Our Watch Award
Administered by The Walkley Foundation
- Alexis Daish, A Current Affair, Nine, “Kim’s Fight”
- Melissa Fyfe and Jacqueline Maley, Good Weekend Magazine, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Rethinking Rape”
- Richard Willingham, ABC Investigations, “Shortage of doctors causing victims of sexual crime to wait for forensic examinations” (1, 2, 3)
Humanitarian Storytelling Award
Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross and administered by The Walkley Foundation
- Matthew Davis and Peter O’Donoghue, Foreign Correspondent, ABC, “Myanmar’s Forgotten War” (1, 2, 3)
- Tom Joyner, ABC News and ABC 7.30, “Somalia’s looming famine” (1, 2, 3)
- Ben Lewis, Colin Cosier and Josh McAtamney, Dateline, SBS, “Teens, Love and War”
Media Diversity Australia Award
Supported by Media Diversity Australia, The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council and administered by The Walkley Foundation
- Dan Bourchier, ABC, “Voice reporting by Dan Bourchier” (1, 2, 3)
- Hagar Cohen and Raveen Hunjan, ABC, “Racism allegations lead to staff exodus” (1, 2)
- Jessica Horner and Nicole Mills, ABC, “A Rich News Lens” (1)
Arts Journalism
The following two awards recognise excellence in journalism about the creative arts, from the perspectives of both practitioners and critics. Through the generous support of the Hantomeli Foundation and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the winners of the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism will each receive $5000 in prize money.
June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism
Supported by Copyright Agency
- Gabriella Coslovich, Good Weekend, “The Art of the Steal” (1)
- Marc Fennell, ABC TV, “Stuff the British Stole” (1, 2)
- Anna Verney and Richard Cooke, Guardian Australia, “‘Miles Franklin-nominated novelist apologises for plagiarising Nobel laureate ‘without realising’’ (1, 2, 3)
The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism
Supported by the Hantomeli Foundation and administered by the Walkley Foundation
- Christopher Allen, The Australian, “Mission not accomplished” (1, 2)
- Catriona Menzies-Pike, Sydney Review of Books, “Critic Swallows Book” and “Fool’s Gold” (1, 2)
- Jinghua Qian, The Saturday Paper, “Reading the gaps” (1)
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