The Australian wins Brand of the Year at News Awards
Rod Savage, Grace Frost and the Gold Coast Bulletin were among the winners, with the top journalist award still to come.
The Australian has won Brand of the Year at the 2026 News Awards, while Rod Savage received the Chairman’s Award and the Herald Sun’s Grace Frost was named Young Journalist of the Year.
News Australia presented its 22nd annual awards at its new Press Hall in Sydney. The Australian won for its national investigations, corporate reporting and digital publishing strategy.
The masthead also collected State/National Campaign of the Year, with Perry Williams and John Stensholt winning the Keith McDonald Business Journalist of the Year award for the second consecutive year.
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Williams and Stensholt’s reporting exposed the rift behind Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar’s departure and secured the pair a book deal.
Savage, News Australia’s director of newsroom innovation, received the Chairman’s Award for his work on newsroom technology and operations.
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson named Frost Young Journalist of the Year for her investigative data analysis and digital storytelling.
News24’s Sharri Markson won Investigation of the Year. The Herald Sun’s Jay Clark collected both Scoop of the Year and Best Sports Journalism of the Year.
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Two awards for Gold Coast Bulletin
The Gold Coast Bulletin won two awards for investigations into youth mental health services and council spending.
Ann Wason Moore received Best Regional/Local Journalism of the Year for a nine-month investigation into youth mental health. News Australia said her reporting exposed system failures, prompted a Queensland government inquiry, and led to health reforms.
The Bulletin also won Regional/Local Campaign of the Year for reporting on council officials’ overseas travel expenses. The coverage led to changes to council policy and the chief executive’s resignation.
NT News photographer Gera Kazakov won Photograph of the Year for an image of a grieving Alice Springs resident embracing a police officer.
Coles Magazine, produced by Medium Rare Content Agency, was named Lifestyle Brand of the Year.
News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said: “These awards reflect our ongoing investment in world-class journalism, sophisticated newsroom technology, and the next generation of reporting talent. From forensic corporate scrutiny to relentless community advocacy, our newsrooms continue to set the agenda and drive real-world outcomes.
“At the same time, the breadth of our publishing network, spanning flagship mastheads to market-leading commercial content agencies, demonstrates our versatility, scale and deep audience engagement.”
The News Awards Gala Dinner in November will announce the Sir Keith Murdoch Journalist of the Year Award.
The 2026 News Awards winners
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Brand of the Year | The Australian |
| Chairman’s Award | Rod Savage, Director, Newsroom Innovation |
| Young Journalist of the Year | Grace Frost, Herald Sun |
| Best Coverage of a Major Event | The Daily Telegraph |
| Investigation of the Year | Sharri Markson, News24 |
| Scoop of the Year | Jay Clark, Herald Sun |
| Best Sports Journalism of the Year | Jay Clark, Herald Sun |
| Lifestyle Brand of the Year | Coles Magazine, Medium Rare Content Agency |
| Best Regional/Local Journalism of the Year | Ann Wason Moore, Gold Coast Bulletin |
| Regional/Local Campaign of the Year | Gold Coast Bulletin |
| State/National Campaign of the Year | The Australian |
| Keith McDonald Business Journalist of the Year | Perry Williams and John Stensholt, The Australian |
| Specialist Journalism of the Year | Matthew Cranston, The Australian |
| Commentary of the Year | Kylie Lang, The Courier-Mail |
| Bill Leak Cartoonist of the Year | Brett Lethbridge, The Courier-Mail |
| Headline of the Year | Damien Tomlinson, The Courier-Mail |
| Interview of the Year | Cydonee Mardon, news.com.au |
| Photograph of the Year | Gera Kazakov, NT News |
| Photographer of the Year | Jason Edwards, Herald Sun |
| Visual Storyteller of the Year | Paul Starick and Ruicheng Liang, The Advertiser |
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