Meet the Walkley Advisory Board
The Walkley Advisory Board is drawn from senior leaders in the Australian media
-
Quentin Dempster, Chair
Quentin Dempster is a journalist and author with 40 years experience in print (police, courts, industrial and political reporting) and broadcasting (ABC presenter, interviewer... read more
-
Jeni O'Dowd
Jeni O'Dowd is the editor at large of The Daily Telegraph. Before that, she was editor of The Sunday Telegraph for seven years. Previously, Jeni held senior positions on The A... read more
-
Malcolm Schmidtke
Malcolm Schmidtke is managing editor (business) at The Herald Sun. Previously he was editor of The Sunday Age, editor of The Australian, deputy editor of The Age and a deputy ... read more
-
Fenella Souter
Fenella Souter was editor of Good Weekend, the feature magazine in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, between 1997 and early 2004. In that time, it became one of Australia... read more
-
Gay Alcorn
Gay Alcorn began her career in Queensland, and joined The Sunday Age before its launch in 1989. She worked as the Darwin correspondent for four years, and was The Age's Washin... read more
-
Cathy Border
Cathy Border is State Political Reporter for the Ten Network in Queensland. She is also a weekly political commentator on 4BC radio. In years previous Cathy has hosted various... read more
-
Mike Carlton
Mike Carlton is one of Australia's best known broadcasters and journalists. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has been a news reporter and editor, a TV and radio anc... read more
-
David Dare Parker
A Walkley Award -winning photographer, David Dare Parker has photographed for many national and international magazines throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Australasi... read more
-
Alan Kennedy
Alan Kennedy has been a journalist for the past 40 years. He began his career with a cadetship on The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, and has worked throughout Australia and in Lon... read more
-
Tony Koch
Tony Koch is chief reporter (Qld) for The Australian newspaper. He was a shorthand court reporter before turning to journalism 25 years ago. His start with the rural weekly Q... read more
-
Peter Meakin
Born in England, Peter Meakin, the Seven Network's Director of News and Public Affairs, moved to Australia via Brazil and Singapore with his family in the 1950s. He started wo... read more
-
Laurie Oakes
Laurie Oakes, one of Australia's foremost political commentators, has had a distinguished career in journalism that spans more than 30 years. His incisive political commentary... read more
-
Quentin Dempster, Chair
Back to Top
Quentin Dempster is a journalist and author with 40 years experience in print (police, courts, industrial and political reporting) and broadcasting (ABC presenter, interviewer and investigative reporter).
He has been a columnist for the Telegraph and Sunday Mail (Brisbane), the Bulletin magazine and is a regular contributor for ABC Online.
In 1986 he wrote and produced "The Sunshine System", a TV documentary on institutionalised corruption in Queensland. He wrote and produced network coverage of the Fitzgerald and Wood police corruption royal commissions in Queensland and NSW in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1992 he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the media, particularly in journalism and current affairs. From 1992 to 1996 he was staff-elected director of the ABC.
He is the author of three books: Honest Cops (1992); Whistleblowers (1997); and Death Struggle – how political malice and boardroom powerplays are killing the ABC (2000).
In 2002 Quentin received a Walkley Award for outstanding contribution to journalism. Currently he is presenter of Stateline NSW for the ABC.
-
Jeni O'Dowd
Back to Top
Jeni O'Dowd is the editor at large of The Daily Telegraph.
Before that, she was editor of The Sunday Telegraph for seven years. Previously, Jeni held senior positions on The Australian newspaper, where she won a Walkley award.
Jeni is married with three children.
-
Malcolm Schmidtke
Back to Top
Malcolm Schmidtke is managing editor (business) at The Herald Sun.
Previously he was editor of The Sunday Age, editor of The Australian, deputy editor of The Age and a deputy editor of The Australian Financial Review.
He was a Walkley award-winner in 2004, together with Gay Alcorn and Liz Minchin, for a feature on former Opposition leader Mark Lathham.
-
Fenella Souter
Back to Top
Fenella Souter was editor of Good Weekend, the feature magazine in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, between 1997 and early 2004.
In that time, it became one of Australia’s most successful and widely read magazines.
Over her 25 years as a journalist, she has had extensive editing and magazine production experience and worked closely with many of Australia’s best-known feature writers.
Before Good Weekend, she was editor of HQ magazine at Australian Consolidated Press, where she worked for seven years. She has also been a writer for a number of publications including HQ and The Bulletin.
After resigning as editor of Good Weekend in 2004, she returned to writing and is now a senior feature writer with the magazine.
Fenella has served on the MEAA Ethics Commmittee and been a Walkley judge.
-
Gay Alcorn
Back to Top
Gay Alcorn began her career in Queensland, and joined The Sunday Age before its launch in 1989. She worked as the Darwin correspondent for four years, and was The Age's Washington correspondent from 1999-2002, where she covered both the 2000 presidential election and the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
She has won three Walkley awards, the latest in 2004 when she was part of the investigative unit which profiled former ALP leader Mark Latham. Her other Walkleys were for news and feature writing.
Gay was appointed Sunday Age editor in March 2008 after two years in the position of deputy editor for The Age.
-
Cathy Border
Back to Top
Cathy Border is State Political Reporter for the Ten Network in Queensland. She is also a weekly political commentator on 4BC radio.
In years previous Cathy has hosted various current affairs programs on 612 ABC Radio. From questioning Prime Ministers and Premiers, to consumer issues and sporting interviews; Cathy's work displays a high level of journalistic experience and technical skills. These programs were agenda setters regularly followed by other media outlets.
Cathy has also hosted various functions, mediated election debates and hosted documentaries aired nationally on ABC TV.
As a senior reporter for ABC Radio, Cathy did political reporting and national environment and tourism rounds. She also worked on national current affairs programs.
In the 1980s as a senior reporter and producer for commercial radio 4BC, Cathy produced coverage of the demise of the Bjelke-Petersen Government, Expo and the Fitzgerald report.
-
Mike Carlton
Back to Top
Mike Carlton is one of Australia's best known broadcasters and journalists.
In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has been a news reporter and editor, a TV and radio anchor, foreign correspondent, newspaper columnist, humorist and satirist.
Mike recently retired from the Radio 2UE Breakfast Show. He resumes writing a weekly column for the Sydney Morning Herald in mid-October 2009, and is soon to publish a history of the World War II cruiser HMAS Perth and her crew.
-
David Dare Parker
Back to Top
A Walkley Award -winning photographer, David Dare Parker has photographed for many national and international magazines throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Australasia. Publications include LeMonde, Stern, L'Express, Focus, Australian Geographic, The Bulletin, The New York Times, Fortune and TIME Australia.
Recent projects include coverage of East Timor’s struggle to gain independence and Indonesia’s first steps towards democracy.
In January 2002 David was asked to co-ordinate a safety awareness course for Afghan Journalists in Peshawar, Pakistan for the International Federation of Journalists.
During April and May of 2003 he was the Official War Photographer for the Australian War Memorial during Operation Falconer in the Middle East, the first time an Official Photographer had been assigned by the AWM since the Korean War.
He was one of the original co-founders of Reportage, is a Director of FotoFreo Photographic Festival and is a Walkley Advisory Board Member. He is represented by °SOUTH in Australia and OnAsia Images in Asia.
-
Alan Kennedy
Back to Top
Alan Kennedy has been a journalist for the past 40 years. He began his career with a cadetship on The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, and has worked throughout Australia and in London.
After working on the development of Australian Business magazine in the early 1980s, he pursued a successful career as a freelance journalist, concentrating on the car industry. As motoring editor of both Australian Business and The Bulletin, he wrote extensively on industry policy.
The past 19 years were spent at The Sydney Morning Herald – firstly, as motoring editor. He edited the Stay In Touch column for three years, before becoming deputy editor and then editor of the sports section.
He returned to reporting for his last few years with the Herald, covering the America’s Cup and Olympic sailing, the AFL, Formula One and tennis.
Alan has been a member of the Australian Journalists’ Association (AJA), now part of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), for 40 years and has been active in the union for most of that time. He chaired the Australian Consolidated Press House Committee, then, after joining the Herald, became chair of the Fairfax House Committee. For the past eight years, he has been president of the journalists’ section of the MEAA.
In Australia, he has worked with the MEAA to free up the defamation laws and has continued to lobby and speak on media concentration. He has been a member of the Australian Press Council since 2005.
He left The Sydney Morning Herald at the end of 2005 and now works as a freelance journalist.
-
Tony Koch
Back to Top
Tony Koch is chief reporter (Qld) for The Australian newspaper. He was a shorthand court reporter before turning to journalism 25 years ago.
His start with the rural weekly Queensland Country Life newspaper saw him become the first Australian journalist trained as a pilot as part of his reporting duties. After five years he went to The Courier Mail as Parliamentary and political reporter, and was Queensland Press Gallery president for 10 years.
Tony has won the Premier's Award for Literature; the Dalgety Australia award for rural journalism three times; several dozen State Awards for journalism; and the Walkley Award five times.
In 2006 he was the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year and is the current Sir Keith Murdoch Award winner as News Limited Journalist of the Year.
-
Peter Meakin
Back to Top
Born in England, Peter Meakin, the Seven Network's Director of News and Public Affairs, moved to Australia via Brazil and Singapore with his family in the 1950s.
He started work in Adelaide as a copy boy on The Advertiser in 1959, switching to television in 1966 as news director at SES-8 Mt Gambier. The following year he moved to TVW-7 Perth and in 1969 was appointed news director at TEN-10 Sydney.
Peter became involved with the Nine Network in 1973, working for Mike Willesee's Transmedia on A Current Affair. He became Chief of Production for 60 Minutes in 1979, then Joint Executive Producer of Willesee in 1984 before his appointment as Director of Current Affairs for the Nine Network in 1987.
Following this, he also worked as Executive Producer of 60 Minutes, Sunday and Business Sunday and took up the position of Director of News and Current Affairs for Nine in 1993.
In November 2002, Peter was awarded a prestigious Walkley Award for Journalism Leadership and in April 2003, The Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society in the Presentation of News and Current Affairs.
In May 2003, Peter Meakin joined the Seven Network as Director of News and Public Affairs.
-
Laurie Oakes
Back to Top
Laurie Oakes, one of Australia's foremost political commentators, has had a distinguished career in journalism that spans more than 30 years.
His incisive political commentary - such as the Oakes Report - and news-breaking ability has earned him the respect of peers and politicians alike and in 1998 he won the Walkley Award for Journalistic Leadership.
Oakes is renowned for his probing interviews and Canberra-shaking scoops. In 1997 he broke the travel rorts saga that ended the careers of three ministers and government staffers. He also scored an exclusive interview on Sunday with one of the "Travelgate" affair's surprise victims — John Howard's close friend and senior adviser, Graham Morris.
Oakes graduated from Sydney University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He joined The Daily Mirror the following year and in 1965 became state political roundsman.
By the age of 25, he was The Melbourne Sun-Pictorial's Canberra bureau chief. While reporting for this paper, Oakes also provided political commentaries for the Seven Network's Willesee At Seven program.
In 1978 he started his own political journal, The Laurie Oakes Report. The following year he joined Channel 10, where he stayed for five years before moving to the Nine Network.
For several years Oakes wrote about politics in The Age in Melbourne and The Sunday Telegraph in Sydney and provided political reports and commentaries to a number of radio stations.
Laurie Oakes is also a highly regarded political author, and has written a biography on Gough Whitlam and recently released Power Plays. Oakes presents “The Oakes Report”, a weekly political interview on Today, and files reports for Nine News and Today.
