19 June, 2025
April McLennan was named the 2025 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year, as the Walkley Foundation honoured all the winners in the 2025 Mid-Year Media Prizes in Sydney this evening.
Peer-judged and selected on the basis of journalistic excellence, the Prizes include the John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards, Coverage of Science and Environment Prize, Freelance Journalist of the Year Prize, Women’s Leadership in Media Prize, Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women, Media Diversity Australia Prize, and Arts Journalism & Arts Criticism Prize.
Winners were also announced for the Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship with Nine, the ARN Audio Scholarship, and the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism.
Walkley Foundation Chief Executive Shona Martyn congratulated the winners and recipients.
“Once again the judges remarked on the high quality of entries across the categories, an encouraging reminder that Australia’s best journalism is of the highest standard,” she said.
ABC journalist April McLennan stood out as the overall John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year after winning the categories for both Public Service Journalism and Coverage of Community & Regional Affairs for her reporting in Launceston.
The judges said: ‘April’s body of work across two subjects – unwanted medical intervention in childbirth and the accusations against former Launceston mayor Danny Gibson – deservedly earned her recognition in two categories, making her a fitting winner of the Young Journalist of the Year award. Her work shows tenacity, dedication, strong investigative and research skills, and a laudable commitment to difficult public interest journalism.’
The Mid-Year Media Prizes are a standalone series of awards, held separately from the Walkley Awards which are announced in November. The Mid-Year Media Prizes are not Walkley Awards. They are judged by panels of specialist judges with no involvement from the Walkley Judging Board. The Walkley Judging Board however selects the winner of the John B Fairfax Family Young Journalist of the Year.
Winners are chosen on the basis of overall merit and journalistic excellence. The Walkley Foundation encourages a diversity of entries from journalists around Australia, published or broadcast between 16 April, 2024 and 14 April, 2025. 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.
A full list of winners follows.
The John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards
Supported by Jibb Foundation
These awards recognise the hard work of our most outstanding young Australian journalists. They reward the efforts of journalists aged 28 and under who demonstrate excellence in the fundamental tenets of the profession, as well as the ability to present distinctive and original journalism that pushes the boundaries of the craft.The winner of each of the seven categories will receive a complimentary place in an AGSM short course at UNSW Business School. All courses earn credit towards the AGSM Certificate of Executive Management and Development which, in turn, carries course credit into the AGSM MBA and Graduate Certificates.
2025 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year
Supported by Jibb Foundation
April McLennan, ABC News & ABC Tasmania
Thanks to the Jibb Foundation’s support, April will receive a two-week international trip to newsrooms (flights included) and a mentorship program to boost her career.
Shortform Journalism
Supported by ABC
Lucas Baird, Australian Financial Review, ‘Cybercriminals break into Australia’s pension pot’ [1],[2],[3]
Longform Feature or Special
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Rhiona-Jade Armont, SBS Dateline, ‘Cambodia’s Surrogacy Crackdown’
Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs
April McLennan, ABC Tasmania (Launceston), ‘Birth rights’ [1],[2],[3]
Innovative Storytelling
Supported by Business News
Lia Walsh, ABC News TikTok and Instagram accounts, ‘A Trump hater selling Trump merch’, ‘Has anyone checked on the Aussie expats?’, ‘Aussie journalist vs US frat party’ [1],[2],[3]
Visual Storytelling
Christopher Tan, SBS World News, ‘WA videojournalism body of work’ [1],[2],[3]
Public Service Journalism
Supported by Telum Media
April McLennan, ABC News, ‘Former Launceston mayor Danny Gibson accused of unwanted sexual advances, sexting theatre student’ [1],[2],[3]
Student Journalist of the Year
Supported by the University of Sydney
Ella Loneragan, Western Independent (Curtin University), The West Australian, ‘The game blame‘, ‘Queues for loos: another equity issue?’
Coverage of Science and the Environment Prize
Supported by the University of Sydney Faculty of Science
Claire Aird, Greg Muller, Claudianna Blanco, LiSTNR, Southern Cross Austereo, ‘Secrets We Keep: Should I Spit’ podcast series [1]
Freelance Journalist of the Year Prize
Prue Lewarne, SBS Dateline, SBS World News, ‘The Beast – Mexico’s Deadliest Train‘, ‘Argentina’s Milei’, ‘Argentina Poverty’
Women’s Leadership in Media Prize
Supported by MECCA M-POWER
Calliste Weitenberg, SBS Dateline, ‘Romania’s Webcam Girls‘, ‘India’s Virginity Test‘, ‘In the wake of Andrew Tate’s arrest, Romanian cam girls speak out‘
Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women
Administered by the Walkley Foundation
ABC News Breakfast team, ABC, ‘Not Just A Number – ABC News Breakfast Special Coverage’
Media Diversity Australia Prize
Supported by Media Diversity Australia, Australian Multicultural Foundation, and Multicultural NSW, and administered by the Walkley Foundation
Ben Smee & Melissa Davey, Guardian Australia, ‘In the Box: how children with FASD end up in police cells’ [1],[2],[3]
Arts Journalism & Arts Criticism Prize
Supported by the Geraldine Pascall Foundation. Through the generous support of the Hantomeli Foundation, the winner will receive $5000 in prize money.
Rudi Bremer, Teresa Tan, Daniel Browning, ABC Indigenous and ABC News Story Lab, ‘This is Australia, according to Archie Moore’
Scholarships & Grants
Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship
Supported by: Anita Jacoby, Nine Network and AFTRS
Niddal Abdelrahman, University of Queensland
ARN Audio Scholarship
Supported by: ARN
Rachel Jennings, RTRFM 92.1 / Curtin University
Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism
Supported by private donors
Jordan Fennell, ABC
