The Walkley Foundation is delighted to announce the finalists for the 67th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
The Walkley Awards, Australia’s pre-eminent national journalism awards, recognise and reward the best in the craft and set the industry standard for excellence.
Shona Martyn, CEO of the Walkley Foundation, said: “Our hearty congratulations to this impressive array of finalists who have risen to the top in hotly-contested categories in a big year for news and current affairs. This is work that makes a difference, that creates change, holds the powerful to account and holds a mirror up to our nation and its culture and our world. The 2022 finalists exemplify the best of Australian journalism from writers, photographers, cartoonists, production teams and documentary makers. We look forward to celebrating the winners in Sydney on November 17.”
Finalists are selected by panels of peers on the basis of overall merit and journalistic excellence. The Walkley Foundation encourages a diversity of entries from journalists around Australia. This year we received 1304 entries.
Judges for this first round are selected by the Walkley Judging Board. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
The Walkley Foundation has a mechanism for dealing with any conflict of interest, actual or perceived, that may arise during the judging process. The guidelines are based on the principle that all actual conflicts of interest are to be avoided and that even a perceived conflict may be damaging to all parties. You can read more about the conflict guidelines here.
All Walkley Award winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the ICC in Sydney on Thursday November 17.
The winners of the Nikon Photography Prizes are announced below, along with the list of finalists for all the Walkley Awards.
For media enquiries contact James Gorman on james.gorman@walkleys.com or 0414 990 480.
67th Walkley Award finalists
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Award Partner Media Super
- Melissa Cunningham, The Age, “The Melbourne ICU where the unvaccinated die in disbelief”
- Aisha Dow, Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer, The Age, “Triple-zero crisis”
- Samantha Maiden, news.com.au, “Captain’s Pick”
PUBLIC SERVICE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Sydney Airport
- Anne Connolly, Ali Russell and Stephanie Zillman, ABC Four Corners, “State Control”
- Ruby Jones, Georgia Cranko, Erik Jensen and Elle Marsh, Schwartz Media, 7am, “The killing of Ann Marie Smith”
- Katri Uibu, ABC News, “Bad parent: Life at the hands of Australia’s child protection system”
INNOVATION
- ABC News Story Lab team, ABC News, “The Australian election map has been lying to you”
- Mark Doman, Michael Slezak and the Digital Story Innovation Team, ABC, ‘Using 3D techniques to tell immersive stories’ (1, 2, 3, 4)
- Ben English, Anna Caldwell and the Daily Telegraph documentary team, The Daily Telegraph, “The War”
HEADLINE, CAPTION OR HOOK
Award Partner Twitter
- Anna Caldwell, The Daily Telegraph, “Need a rapid test? Play the Poms”, “Thor-assic Park”, “Return Serb”
- Simon Firth, The Australian, ‘Hits & Mrs: It’s an Oscars like no other’; ‘Packer’s Act 3: Easy lies the head that no longer wears Crown; ‘Pharma wants a knife: cashed-up Mayne keen to cut some deals’
- Patrick Lenton and Esmé Louise James, The Conversation, “The explosive history of the 2,000-year-old Pompeii ‘masturbating’ man”, “Cardboardeaux, bag-in-box, and goon: why Australia’s love affair with boxed wine endures”, “Did everyone in Bridgerton have syphilis? Just how sexy would it really have been in Regency era London?”
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
- Chloe Hooper, The Monthly, “Goddamn bloody adult: Jacqui Lambie”
- Anna Krien, The Monthly, “A Shooting in Yuendumu”
- John van Tiggelen, The Monthly, “The Wash-up”
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Greg Bearup, The Weekend Australian Magazine, “The Parish Uprising”
- Peter Hartcher, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Radioactive: Inside the top-secret AUKUS subs deal”
- Will Swanton, The Australian, “The Babushka Smuggle”
COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Award Partner PwC’s Indigenous Consulting
- Brooke Fryer, Claire Aird, Sissy Reyes and Patrick Forrest, SBS, The Feed, “Vanished: The unsolved cases of First Nations women”
- Louise Milligan, Naomi Selvaratnam and Lauren Day, ABC TV, Four Corners, “Heart Failure”
- Charlotte King and Carly Williams, ABC, Background Briefing, “The Fight for Control Over Black Births”
COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
- Sam Carmody, Anthony Pancia, Wayne Webb and Zac Webb, ABC, Background Briefing, ABC South West and Undalup Association, “The Ghosts Are Not Silent”
- Samantha Jonscher and Alex Barwick, ABC Alice Springs, “Gendered violence in Central Australia”
- ABC North Coast Team, ABC North Coast, “Northern Rivers flood catastrophe”
CARTOON
Award Partner Epson
- Matt Golding, The Sunday Age, “Voice to Parliament”
- Fiona Katauskas, Australian Community Media, The Echidna and The Canberra Times, “Propertied”
- Mark Knight, Herald Sun, “Not everyone has to be Scott Morrison”
SPORTS JOURNALISM
Award Partner University of Queensland
- Craig Butt and Concussion Project Team, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Concussion in sport”
- Lorna Knowles, Nikki Tugwell and Clare Blumer, ABC, “Painful Past: the John Wright series”
- Jeremy Story Carter, ABC National Regional Reporting Team, “Death of a footy club”
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
- Robert Cianflone, Getty Images, “A Glamorous Job”
- Quinn Rooney, Getty Images, “Swimming World”
- Cameron Spencer, Getty Images, “Sport is Back!”
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
Award Partner ABC
- Andrew Probyn and Matthew Doran, ABC AM, “The Macron-Morrison Spat”
- Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, ABC, “Ukraine war crimes”
- David Sparkes, ABC, “Northern NSW floods”
RADIO/AUDIO FEATURE
Award Partner Telum Media
- Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich, Audible / Amazon, “The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment”
- Rachael Brown, Mahmood Fazal and the Background Briefing team, ABC Background Briefing, “What happened to the Saudi sisters?”
- The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes team, Nine, “Liar Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions”
PRODUCTION
Award Partner Google News Initiative
- Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich, Audible/ Amazon, “The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment”
- The Journey through Ukraine Team, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “6000km journey”
- Mark Willacy, Stephanie March, Josh Robertson and Kyle Taylor, ABC Four Corners, “Ghosts of Timor”
SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nine News
- Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers and Samantha Maiden, The Australian and news.com.au “Ministry of Secrets”
- Kirsty Needham, Reuters, “China’s push for Pacific security deals”
- Bevan Shields, The Sydney Morning Herald, “‘I don’t think, I know’”
COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Sky News Australia
- Anthony Galloway and Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “The invasion of Ukraine”
- The Hell on High Water Team, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Hell on High Water”
- Seven News Ukraine Team, Channel Seven, “Ukraine War”
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
- Stephen Dupont, Stephen Dupont Instagram and Facebook, “War in Ukraine”
- Natalie Grono, The Saturday Paper and Surfing World Magazine, “Peter takes a moment”
- Christopher Hopkins, The Age, “Day 1: Anti Lockdown”
BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING
- Sarah Danckert, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Secrets at Stake.com”
- Nick Evans and John Stensholt, The Australian, “Twiggy’s Green Dream”
- Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer and Amelia Ballinger, Nine, 60 Minutes, “Star and the gambling industry’s reckoning”
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Award Partner Canva
- Matthew Abbott, National Geographic Magazine, “Saving forests with fire”
- Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “Invasion of Ukraine – Civilian Impact”
- Andrew Quilty, Rolling Stone, “Return of the Taliban”
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
- Matthew Davis, ABC Foreign Correspondent, “Myanmar’s Forgotten War” and “Keep Hawaii Hawaiian”
- Ryan Grimshaw, NBN News and Nine Today Show/Nine News, “Ryan Grimshaw floods”
- Ryan Sheridan, ABC Four Corners, “Despair and Defiance” and “Feral”
TELEVISION/VIDEO NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven
- Carrie-Anne Greenbank, Nine Network, “The War in Ukraine”
- Chris Reason, Channel Seven, “Frontline in Ukraine”
- Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and Phil Hemingway, ABC, “Ukraine war coverage”
TELEVISION/VIDEO CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (LESS THAN 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
- Christine Ahern and Thea Dikeos, Nine Network, 60 Minutes, “Dying for Help”
- Lorna Knowles and Nikki Tugwell, ABC, 7.30, “Painful Past: the John Wright series” [1, 2, 3]
- Josh Robertson, Mark Willacy, Kyle Taylor and Echo Hui, ABC, 7.30, “Fallen Star”
TELEVISION/VIDEO CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (MORE THAN 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner TEN News First and The Project
- Anne Connolly, Ali Russell and Stephanie Zillman, ABC, Four Corners, “State Control”
- Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft and Lauren Day, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Four Corners, “Cosmetic Cowboys: The unregulated world of cosmetic surgery”
- Belinda Hawkins, Kristine Taylor and Roger Carter, ABC, Australian Story, “No Place Like Home”
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Guardian Australia
- Adele Ferguson, Joel Tozer, Klaus Toft and Lauren Day, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, 60 Minutes, and Four Corners, “Cosmetic Surgery in Crisis”
- Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer and Amelia Ballinger, Nine, “The downfall of the gaming industry”
- Hedley Thomas, David Murray, Isaac Irons, and Slade Gibson, The Australian, “Shandee’s Story”
COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers
- Nikki Gemmell, News Corp, The Weekend Australian, “Australia Now” (“Election Aftermath”, “A Son’s Accident”, “The Untameable New Female”)
- Erik Jensen, The Saturday Paper, “The Morrison editorials” (Because I said; The halfway man; Scott of the autarchic)
- Jacqueline Maley, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “When Power Shifts” (Morrison, a well-primed minister for everything; You deserve what you get: the Depp-Heard trial was the voice in every victim’s ear; I am one of the hordes turned sleepless by the pandemic)
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD SHORTLIST
- Christopher Kamen, Franklin, Rock Island Bend Productions
- Ben Lawrence and Gabriel Shipton, Ithaka, Shipton House and ABC
- Karl Malakunas, Delikado, Thoughtful Robot Productions
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD SHORTLIST
- Bronwyn Adcock, Currowan, Black Inc. Books
- Sean Kelly, The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison, Black Inc. Books
- Louisa Lim, Indelible City, Text Publishing
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
- Brendan Esposito, ABC
- Christopher Hopkins, The Age and The Guardian
- Brook Mitchell, The Sydney Morning Herald
2022 NIKON PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE WINNERS
These are not Walkley Awards, but prizes administered by the Walkley Foundation on behalf of Nikon. These photos will also appear in the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography exhibition.
NIKON PHOTO OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Natalie Grono, The Saturday Paper and Surfing World Magazine, “Peter takes a moment”
NIKON PORTRAIT PRIZE
WINNER: Justin McManus, The Sunday Age and The Age, “Johnny and his Dogs”
Thank you to the many senior journalists who gave their time to judge the Walkley Awards this year:
- Gemma Acton, Seven
- Daniel Adams, Australian Financial Review
- Christine Ahern, Nine Melbourne
- Lorena Allam, Guardian Australia
- Mike Amor, 7News
- Paul Bailey, Australian Financial Review
- Rebecca Baillie, Insight, SBS
- Clare Blumer, ABC, triple j
- Stephanie Borys, ABC Radio
- Alice Brennan, ABC Audio Studios
- Peter Broelman, The Advertiser
- Jane Cadzow, Good Weekend
- Anna Caldwell, The Daily Telegraph
- Mark Chapman, SBS
- Harriet Tarbuck, Photo Collective
- Blanche Clark
- Caleb Cluff, Ballarat Courier, ACM
- Amanda Collinge, Compass, ABC
- Matthew Condon, The Weekend Australian Magazine
- Kate Cox, ACM
- Mary Cunnane
- Omar Dehen, SBS World News
- Kate Doak, 10 News First
- Tom Dusevic, The Australian
- Nicholas Eagar, News Corp
- Patrick Effeney, Wide World of Sports, Nine
- Richard Ferguson, The Australian
- Kate Ferguson, ABC
- Fanou Filali, ABC Investigations
- John Farmer, The Courier Mail
- Peter Fray, Private Media
- Melissa Fyfe, Good Weekend Magazine
- Ashleigh Gillon, Sky News
- Janine Graham, Illawarra Mercury
- Ewin Hannan, The Australian
- Kerri-Lee Harding, NITV Radio
- Elise Holman, Sky News
- Gabrielle Jackson, Guardian Australia
- Eric Johnston, The Australian
- Lindy Jones, Abbeys
- Krystal Keller, The Project
- Matthew Kelly, Newcastle Herald
- Nassim Khadem, ABC Melbourne
- Sashka Koloff, ABC
- Ray Kuka, 7News Perth
- Bernard Lagan, The Times
- Justin Lees, The Daily Telegraph
- Caro Llewellyn, The Wheeler Centre
- Katherine Loughnan, Fox Sports
- Alicia Loxley, Nine News
- Josie MacRae, Nine
- Bonnie Malkin, Guardian Australia
- Kathy Marks
- Matthew Martin, freelance Illustrator/cartoonist
- Olivia McGrath, Getty
- Margie McLew, Nine
- Nel Minchin, In Films
- Bridget Munro, SBS World News
- Catherine Naylor, Sydney Morning Herald
- Alex Needs, Nine
- Holly Nott, AAP
- Thomas O’Brien, Sky News
- Jeremy Piper, Oculi
- Petra Rees, The Australian
- Celina Ribeiro, Guardian Australia
- Stephen Rice, The Australian
- Tory Shepherd, Guardian Australia
- Susan Skelly, Freelance specialist writer/editor
- Stephanie Skenderis, freelance
- Amruta Slee, ABC Radio National
- Camden Smith, NT Times
- Michelle Stephenson, Nova Entertainment
- Jake Sturmer, ABC
- Edmund Tadros, Australian Financial Review
- Steve Tervet, The Border Mail
- Geoff Thompson, Background Briefing, ABC Radio National
- Greg Thomson, The Daily Telegraph
- Brian Thomson, SBS
- Nakari Thorpe, ABC
- Lee Tulloch, Traveller
- Sharnelle Vella, 7News Melbourne
- Calla Wahlquist, Guardian Australia
- Giselle Wakatama, ABC Newcastle
- Jim Waley
- Danny Wheeler, Sky News Australia
- Martin White, 10 News First
- Mandi Wicks, SBS
- Sally Young, 7News Queensland
