Peer-judged and selected on the basis of journalistic excellence, the Mid-Year Celebration suite includes the Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards, as well as the Arts Journalism Prizes, Women’s Leadership in Media, Freelancer of the Year, Best Industrial Reporting, the inaugural Media Diversity Australia Award and the Our Watch Award.
Winners will be announced at the Mid-Year Celebration in Sydney on June 26. At this event, the winning recipients will also be announced for the Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship with Nine, the Media Super Scholarship with Seven, the William Buckland Foundation Fellowship with The Age and the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism.
Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards
These awards recognise and reward the hard work of our most outstanding young Australian journalists. They recognise the work of journalists aged 28 and under who demonstrate excellence in the fundamental tenets of the craft as well as the ability to present distinctive and original journalism that pushes the boundaries of the profession.
All media: Shortform journalism
Supported by ABC
• Avani Dias, Hack, triple j, ABC “A botched terror case and police failings: revelations of a wrongful arrest and an alleged revenge plot”
• Jennifer Duke and Michael Koziol, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “‘They hate her’: emails show ABC chairman told Michelle Guthrie to fire Emma Alberici” “‘Dear directors’: explosive dossier reveals bitter war between Michelle Guthrie and ABC board” and “Tonightly c— skit: Ex-ABC chairman wanted to change editorial policy”
• Isabella Higgins, ABC News 7pm bulletin, ABC TV and ABC Online, “Life in the grips of a suicide crisis” “Strength in the suicide community” and “The fight of our lives”
All media: Longform feature or special
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
• Jack Banister, The Citizen and The Guardian, “More than a game in the Tiwi Islands, footy helps heal a hurting community”
• Oliver Gordon, Background Briefing, Radio National, ABC Radio, “The Black & White Hotel: Inside Australia’s Segregated Hotel Rooms”
• Laura Murphy-Oates, The Feed, SBS, “Turned Away”
All media: Coverage of community & regional affairs
Supported by Google News Initiative
• Rachel Baxter, PRIME 7 News North West (Tamworth), “Tingha Plateau Bushfire Coverage”
• Aneeta Bhole, ABC, “A tale of two seasons”
• Henry Zwartz, ABC News Regional, “‘This is Tasmania’s Ballarat’: Abuse survivors speak out”
All media: Visual storytelling
Supported by Sky NEWS
• Mridula Amin, The New York Times, “The Nauru Experience: Zero-Tolerance Immigration and Suicidal Children”
• Annika Blau and Zoe Osborne, ABC News, “Extraordinary stories of women in Asia”
• Rebecca Metcalf, VICE Video, “South-Sudanese Australians Talk Police, Politics and the Media”
All media: Public service journalism
Supported by News Corp Australia
• Osman Faruqi, Radio National, ABC and ABC Life, “Exposing the terrifying new frontier in online abuse”
• Oliver Gordon, AM and Background Briefing, Radio National, ABC, “Segregation in Australia: Commissioner calls for law reform after two stories highlighting racial discrimination”
• Laura Murphy-Oates, SBS, “Reporting on Indigenous affairs”
All media: Student journalist of the year
Supported by Macleay College
• Matilda Boseley, Monash University, The Age and Mojo News, “‘I had no way of getting home’: Calls for changes to liquor laws,” “Grey Area: Let’s Talk About Rape” and “ZOE – Vegans Invade a Melbourne Slaughterhouse”
• Reena Mukherjee, UNSW, “Birds of Change: The Voices that Call to Us”
• Ciaran O’Mahony, University of Melbourne and The Guardian, “Killing Times: Stories of Aboriginal Massacres”
Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year
Supported by Jibb Foundation
The winner of each category will be in the running to win the overall Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award.
Helen O’Flynn & Alan Knight Award for Best Industrial Reporting
Supported by Ai Group, Australian Super, Unions NSW, ACTU, UTS and MEAA
• Ewin Hannan, The Australian, “Hunger Games”
• Ben Knight, Matilda Marozzi, Jessica Longbottom, ABC TV News, ABC online, “Lifting the lid on the hospitality industry”
• Ben Scheiders and Royce Millar, The Age, “SourDough: Australia’s High-End Restaurant Scandal”
Freelance Journalist of the Year
Supported by Media Super
• Yaara Bou Melhem, Witness, Al Jazeera English and Foreign Correspondent, ABC, “Maria Ressa: War on Truth” and “The Oasis”
• Jo Chandler, The Monthly and The New York Times, “Our Nearest Neighbour: Reports from Papua New Guinea”
• Nina Funnell, The Mercury, news.com.au and The Daily Telegraph, “#Let Her Speak”
Women’s Leadership in Media
Supported by PwC
•Melissa Davey, Guardian Australia, “The investigation into Dr Gayed”
• Lorna Knowles, Jo Puccini and Alison McClymont, 7.30, ABC TV, AM, ABC Radio and ABC News Online, “#MeToo in The Australian Greens”
• Sherele Moody, Rendezview, News Corp Australia, Facebook: The RED HEART Campaign and Google Maps: The Australian Femicide & Child Death Map “Who. Where. When. How: Paying Tribute to Murdered Women & Children”
Our Watch Award
Supported by The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts
• Sarah Dingle and the Background Briefing Team, Radio National, ABC, “Australia On Trial”
• Carla Hildebrandt, Mandurah Mail, “‘Heartbreaking and frustrating’: Investigation into Peel domestic violence”
• Lisa Martin, The Guardian, “Navy shame”
Media Diversity Australia Award
Supported by Media Diversity Australia, CoHealth and The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council
• Sarah Dingle and the Background Briefing Team, Radio National, ABC, “Australia On Trial”
• Quentin McDermott, Natalie Whiting and Rebecca Latham, Australian Story, ABC TV, “The Invisible Man”
• Aaron Smith, Kirk Docker, Loni Cooper, Pauline Ernesto and Josh Schmidt, ABC and ABC iview, “You Can’t Ask That – Deaf, African Australians and Intersex”
Arts Journalism Prizes
Through the support of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, winners of both of these two awards will each receive $5000 in prize money.
All media: Arts Journalism Prize
Supported by: Facebook
• Drew Ambrose, Rhiona-Jade Armont and David Boyle, Al Jazeera English, “Straight Outta Bangkok: Thailand’s Rebel Artists”
• Michaela Boland, Greg Miskelly and Alison Branley, ABC, “At the Minister’s Discretion”
• Jane Howard, ABC, “How Australian theatre rebalanced its gender disparity”
All media: Walkley-Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism
Supported by: Geraldine Pascall Foundation
• Rosemary Neill, The Weekend Australian, “Shooting stars: exposing Hollywood’s hypocrisy over guns”
• Jeff Sparrow, Sydney Review of Books, “A Place of Punishment: No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani”
• Fiona Wright, Sydney Review of Books, “To be a tulip”