Emily Baker from the ABC was named the 2022 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year, as the Walkley Foundation honoured all the winners in the 2022 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism in Sydney this evening.
Peer-judged and selected on the basis of journalistic excellence, the Mid-Year Celebration suite includes the John B Faifax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards, June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting, June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year, June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media, Our Watch Award, Media Diversity Australia Award, Humanitarian Storytelling Award, June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism.
Winners were also announced for the Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship with Nine, the WIN News Scholarship, the Walkley Young Indigenous Scholarship and the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism.
Walkley Foundation CEO Shona Martyn said the Mid-Year Celebration is one of the highlights of the year for Australian journalists that turns the spotlight on key subject areas, allowing print, radio, television, podcasts and digital entries to go head to head.
“As the news media adapts and pivots to the continuing upheavals of digital, changed consumer behaviour and an erosion of trust triggered by cries of fake news, the Walkley Foundation stands by its commitment to honouring quality journalism,” Ms Martyn said.
“As always, Australians deserve informed, accurate, insightful, probing and trustworthy coverage of the major issues of our times, be they local, national or international. Never has our work been more important. Congratulations to all the winners and my huge thanks to the judges, sponsors, partners and board of directors.”
Emily Baker was named overall 2022 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year for her stories about disgraced Tasmanian politician Adam Brooks (“’I’m real see’: Woman says Brooks lied about identity” “Second woman alleges Brooks deception” and “Brooks resigns after police raid”). This story was also the winner of the Public Service category. The Walkley Judging Board, represented by Jane Doyle, Narelda Jacobs and Michael Brissenden, found Emily’s entry stood out among a strong field.
“Emily Baker’s extraordinary series of stories unearthed shocking revelations of harassment, deception and denial at the highest levels of Tasmanian politics. Her persistence in the face of attempts by political leaders to block her investigations with threats of defamation and to belittle her publicly, showed determination and dedication. These stories may never have come to light otherwise. The stories were powerful and impactful, they encouraged public debate about the conduct expected of our political representatives. And importantly they forced resignations and changed Tasmanian politics for the better.”
Finalists and winners 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. Judges are selected by the Walkley Judging Board. 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.
The full list of winners is below.
The John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards
2022 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year
Supported by Jibb Foundation
Emily Baker, ABC, “’I’m real see’: Woman says Brooks lied about identity” “Brooks resigns after police raid” and “Complainant speaks on O’Byrne allegations”
Thanks to the support of the Jibb Foundation, Emily receives a two-week international trip to newsrooms (flights included) and a mentorship program, and each of the six category winners will be matched with a mentor to boost their career.
The winner of each of the six categories will also receive a complimentary place in an AGSM short course at UNSW Business School. The AGSM Client Engagement team will assist the winners to identify the course most relevant to their development. 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.
Shortform journalism
Supported by ABC
Amber Schultz, Crikey, Private Media, “Paedophiles, traffickers and opportunistic criminals arrive to prey on the misery of refugees” “Who can you trust? Shell-shocked Ukrainians face the very best and worst of humanity as they seek lasting safety” and “Emergency psychologists see 100 patients a week as refugees break down at border crossings”
Longform feature or special
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Joey Watson, Earshot, Radio National, ABC, “Everyone wants to be Fuhrer”
Coverage of community and regional affairs
Supported by Google News Initiative
Kate Ashton, ABC News Darwin, “NT COVID outbreak traps Binjari and Rockhole community residents in two weeks of hard lockdown in hot and overcrowded homes”, “FOI documents show NT government previously forecast it would not meet target to build 650 remote houses in five years” and “NT pleads with Canberra to pay for new homes on Aboriginal homelands, plays catch-up on remote housing targets”
Visual storytelling
Rebecca Metcalf and Patrick Forrest, The Feed, SBS, “Surviving A Lovescam”
Public service journalism
Supported by News Corp Australia
Emily Baker, ABC, “’I’m real see’: Woman says Brooks lied about identity” “Brooks resigns after police raid” and “Complainant speaks on O’Byrne allegations”
Student journalist of the year
Supported by Twitter
Charlie McLean, University of Technology Sydney, VICE World News and Central News (UTS), “Australia’s Vape Laws Just Got Even Tighter. The Black Market Isn’t Worried” “Why underfunded ICAC is still best corruption watchdog: special report” and “Doctor shopping: how insurers are ‘gaming’ workers comp”
June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting
Supported by MEAA
André Dao, Michael Green and Sherry Huang, The Monthly, Schwartz Media, “On the Chain”
June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year
Supported by Media Super and MEAA
Dale Webster, The Regional, “’Big four’ banks casting a dangerous shadow” “Why I spent a year counting every bank in regional Australia” and “What anyone making a submission to Australia’s latest regional banking inquiry should know first”
June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media
Supported by PwC
Sally Sara and Victoria Pengilley, RN Breakfast and The World Today, ABC Radio, “Taliban interview” “Shukria Barakzai” and “Hasina Safi”
Our Watch Award
Administered by The Walkley Foundation
Bethany Atkinson-Quinton and Madison Griffiths, Broadwave, “Tender: Roia Atmar”
Humanitarian Storytelling Award
Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross and administered by The Walkley Foundation
Andrew Quilty, Harper’s Magazine, “When the Raids Came”
Media Diversity Australia Award
Supported by Media Diversity Australia, MultiConnexions, The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council and administered by The Walkley Foundation
Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich, Lockdown Productions and Audible, “The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment”
Arts Journalism
The following two awards recognise excellence in journalism about the creative arts, from the perspectives of both practitioners and critics. Through the generous support of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund and the Hantomeli Foundation, the winners of the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism will each receive $5000 in prize money.
June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism
Supported by Meta and Copyright Agency
Chip Le Grand, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, “Rogue Gallery: Tristian Koenig and the case of the missing artworks” “Top global dealer among victims of art rogue” and “Twiggy steps in to help artist “fleeced” by gallery owner”
The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism
Supported by the Hantomeli Foundation and administered by the Walkley Foundation
Sarah Krasnostein, The Saturday Paper, “Solos” “Alone” and “Katla”
Scholarships, Fellowships & Grants
Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship
Supported by: Anita Jacoby, Nine Network and AFTRS
Amelia Hirst, RMIT
WIN News Scholarship
Supported by: WIN News
Fraser Williams, Curtin University
The Walkley Young Indigenous Scholarship
Supported by: BHP, Ten and Junkee Media
Kearyn Cox
Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism
Supported by: ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, Harold Mitchell Foundation, Newcrest Mining
Lucy Murray, SBS
Thank you to our judges
Each year hundreds of journalists, editors and producers give their time to judge our awards. Thank you to all those who judged this year:
- Drew Ambrose, Al Jazeera English
- Rob Beaumont, WIN NEWS
- Chris Bendall, The Project
- Michael Brissenden, Walkley Judging Board chair
- Jenny Brockie, Journalist
- Liz Burke, news.com.au
- Rowan Callick, freelance, former China Correspondent
- Zena Chamas, freelance journalist
- Hagar Cohen, 7.30, ABC
- Rhanna Collins, NITV
- Matt Connellan, SBS World News
- Alexis Daish, Nine
- Lisa Davies, AAP
- Shannan Dodson, Engagement, Strategy and Indigenous Sector Specialist
- Ben Doherty, Guardian Australia
- Sean Dorney, Former ABC
- Jane Doyle, Seven
- Lin Evlin, SBS News
- Chris Feik, Black Inc.
- Jeremey Fernandez, ABC News
- Nick Galvin, Sydney Morning Herald
- Mary Gearin, ABC
- Steph Harmon, Guardian Australia
- Chris Hopkins, Freelance Photojournalist
- Dan Illic, Presenter/Comedian/Filmmaker
- Narelda Jacobs, Ten
- Anita Jacoby AM, Media executive and award-winning producer, Non-executive director
- Christian Jantzen, WIN News
- Dee Jefferson, ABC Arts
- Alex Johnston, WIN News
- Melanie Kembrey, Sydney Morning Herald
- Lachlan Kennedy, Ten
- Sophie Kuryl, Journalist, WIN Tasmania
- Tarla Lambert, Women’s Agenda
- Stella Lauri, WIN News
- Stephen Lunn, The Australian
- Josie MacRae, Nine
- Alex Mann, ABC Radio
- Rory McClaren, ABC SA
- Christine Middap,, The Weekend Australian Magazine
- Kishor Napier-Raman, Crikey
- Alex Needs, Nine
- Laura Murphy Oates, Guardian Australia
- Mary-Louise O’Callaghan, former South Pacific Correspondent, The Australian
- Robert Ovadia, Seven
- Charis Perkins, AFR Life and Leisure
- Melanie Petrinec, The Courier Mail
- Olivia Pirie-Griffiths, Junkee Media
- Elise Potaka, SBS
- Ella Rubeli, Documentary maker
- Ali Russell, ABC
- Diana Simmonds, Stagenoise.com
- Petra Starke, Freelance Journalist
- Emily Steinhardt, WIN Queensland
- Sarah Stinson, Seven
- Kate Sullivan, SBS News
- Kath Sullivan, ABC National Reporting Team
- Gayle Tomlinson, Illawarra Mercury
- Joel Tozer, 60 Minutes, Nine
- Helen Vatsikopoulos, UTS
- Jim Waley
- Martin White, Ten
- Dorothy Wickham, Melanesia News Network
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