Despite the continuing severe disruptions caused by Covid, the NRMA Kennedy Awards judging teams have managed to sort out the finalists from a raft of quality entries in the historic 10th annual celebration of excellence in Australian journalism.
The nominees in all 34 categories – including the prestigious $25,000 Kennedy Prize for Journalist of the Year – have been revealed ahead of the rescheduled NRMA Kennedy Awards gala on September 24th.
SEPTEMBER 24 KENNEDY AWARDS GALA TICKETS AND TABLES HERE
Kennedy Foundation chairman Rocco Fazzari said the field of entrants submitting work from the 2020/21 financial year presented a formidable test for adjudicators in many categories.
“In a really big news year the standard of submissions was exceptional,” Fazzari said.
“The work of our 70 judges was really cut out for them this year and the Kennedy Foundation sincerely thanks them for their dedication and support.”
Fazzari also wanted to thank the Kennedy Foundation’s loyal sponsors for their continued efforts to promote excellence in journalism and support our colleagues in hardship.
“Our partners have been absolutely steadfast in times when restrictions have really stretched businesses and employers throughout Australia,” Fazzari said.
The Kennedy Prize, the richest in Australian journalism, will be fought out by finalists from The Sydney Morning Herald, news.com.au and The Australian/Sky News.
Nick McKenzie was a winner in 2020
See also: Kennedy Awards 2020 – 33 winners from Nine, News Corp, Seven, ABC & more
The full list of finalists for 10th Annual NRMA Kennedy Awards
The Kennedy Prize – Journalist of the Year
Kate McClymont – The Sydney Morning Herald
Sharri Markson – The Australian, Sky News
Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Outstanding Crime Reporting
Tara Brown, Gareth Harvey – 60 Minutes, 9
Caro Meldrum-Hanna – ABC TV
Kyle Taylor, Elise Worthington – Four Corners, ABC TV
Outstanding Regional Broadcast Journalism
Joanna Woodburn – ABC TV
Liz Hayes, Gareth Harvey – 60 Minutes, 9
Dimity Clancey – A Current Affair, 9
Outstanding Regional Newspaper Journalism
Ashleigh Tullis – The Illawarra Mercury
Ciara Bastow – The Lithgow Mercury
Elisabeth Champion – Naracoorte Herald
Outstanding Radio Journalism
Mark Willacy – ABC Investigations
Clinton Maynard – 2GB
Alex Mann, Kevin Nguyen – Background Briefing, ABC
Outstanding Podcast
Camille Bianchi – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast
Angus Grigg, Lap Phan – The Australian Financial Review
Tom Melville, Laura Corrigan – Australian Community Media
Outstanding Racing Writer
Damien Ratcliffe – The Age
Chris Roots – The Sydney Morning Herald
Ray Thomas – The Daily Telegraph
Outstanding News Photo
Kevin Nguyen – ABC News
Louise Kennerley – The Sydney Morning Herald
Brendan Esposito – ABC Online
Outstanding Portrait
John Appleyard – Wentworth Courier
Dallas Kilponnen – Northern Beaches Review
Louie Douvis – The Sydney Morning Herald
Outstanding Sport Photo
Marina Neil – The Newcastle Herald
Toby Zerna – The Daily Telegraph
Chris Hyde – Getty Images
Power of the Lens People’s Choice
(to be announced at September 24 Gala)
Outstanding Online Video
Jane Thomson – The Sunday Telegraph
Emily Jane Smith, Rihab Charida, Gavin Blyth – SBS
7news.com.au
Outstanding Illustration/Cartoon
Christopher Downes – The Hobart Mercury
Cathy Wilcox – The Sydney Morning Herald
David Rowe – The Australian Financial Review
Outstanding Team Player
(to be announced at September 24 gala)
Outstanding Sports Reporting
Jessica Halloran, Julian Linden – The Australian, The Daily Telegraph
Quentin McDermott, Greg Hassall – Australian Story
Peter Badel, Travis Meyn, Robert Craddock – The Courier Mail
Young Journalist of the Year
Kamin Gock – Channel 9 News Perth
Adella Beaini – The Daily Telegraph
Natassia Chrysanthos – The Sydney Morning Herald
Outstanding Travel Writing
John Borthwick – The Weekend Australian
Craig Tansley – The Sydney Morning Herald
Katrina Lobley – The Weekend Australian
Outstanding Lifetime Achievement
(to be announced at September 24 gala)
Outstanding Indigenous Affairs Journalism
Karla Grant, Julie Nimmo, Michael Carey – Living Black NITV
Fiona Harari – The Weekend Australian
Australian Story – ABC
Outstanding TV Camera Work
Glen Ellis -7 News
Andrew Taylor – ABC
Nicholas Richardson – 9 News
Outstanding TV News Reporting
Amelia Adams – 9 News
Kieren Gilbert, Andrew Clennell – Sky News
Lorna Knowles – ABC News
Outstanding Nightly Current Affairs
Sharri Markson – Sky News
Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Matt O’Sullivan – 7.30, ABC-TV
Hannah Sinclair – A Current Affair, 9
Outstanding Long Form Current Affairs
Peta Credlin – Sky News
Caro Meldrum-Hanna – ABC
Adele Ferguson – ABC
Outstanding Columnist
Samantha Hutchinson, Stephen Brook – The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald
Wil Swanton – The Australian
Michael Pascoe – The New Daily
Outstanding Finance Reporting
Michael Roddan – The Australian Financial Review
Anthony Klan – The Klaxon
Adele Ferguson, Kate McClymont, Neil Chenoweth – The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review
Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting
Steve Marshall – A Current Affair, 9
Kevin Nguyen – ABC
The Feed – SBS
Outstanding Online News Breaking
9 News Team
Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
7 News Team
Outstanding Court & Legal Affairs Reporting
Winsome Denyer – Australian Story
Lucy Cormack, Kate McClymont – The Sydney Morning Herald
Amy Bainbridge – ABC
Outstanding Reporting on the Environment
Andy Park, Alex McDonald – 7.30, ABC-TV
Natasha Mitchell – Radio National, ABC
Diana Plater – Australian Geographic
Scoop of the Year
Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Sharri Markson – The Australian
Mark Morri – The Daily Telegraph
Outstanding Investigative Journalism
Sharri Markson – The Australian
Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Elise Worthington & Kyle Taylor – Four Corners, ABC-TV
Outstanding Feature Writing
Kathy Marks – The Weekend Australian
Tracey Shelton – abc.net.au
Mridula Amin – ABC News
Outstanding Political Reporting
Paul Farrell, Alex McDonald, Kirsten Robb – 730, ABC-TV
Chris O’Keefe – 9 News
Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Outstanding Foreign Correspondent
Sarah Ferguson – Foreign Correspondent, ABC-TV
Amelia Adams – 9 News
Jonathan Kearsley, Eryk Bagshaw, Anthony Galloway – 9 News, The Sydney Morning Herald