More than 1300 entries are submitted in the prestigious Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism each year. The awards are the culmination of a year-long process with 34 awards presented every November, including the coveted Gold Walkley.
Finalists for the 2012 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were announced at a series of events in across Australia in October and November.
The 57th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism will be broadcast from 9.40pm on Friday November 30 on SBS ONE.
PRINT, WIRE SERVICE & DIGITAL JOURNALISM
PRINT NEWS REPORT
SPONSORED BY MEDIA SUPER
Hedley Thomas, The Australian, “What the floods inquiry didn't hear: Wivenhoe 'breached the manual'”
Kate McClymont, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “Thomson: New credit card claims”
Steve Pennells,The West Australian, “Battle for billions”
Commended: Natalie O'Brien, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, “Blunder revives Siev X memories”
NEWSPAPER FEATURE WRITING
SPONSORED BY NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY
Hannah Low and Angus Grigg, The Australian Financial Review, “The Punters Club – tax, totes and the boys from Tassie”
Nick McKenzie, The Age, “Why did Abraham Papo die?”
Ellen Fanning, The Global Mail, “The truth is on the flood maps”
Commended: Billy Rule, The Sunday Times, “A dark past”
MAGAZINE FEATURE WRITING
SPONSORED BY BHP BILLITON
Anna Krien, Quarterly Essay, “Us & them: on the importance of animals”
Jane Cadzow, Good Weekend, Fairfax,“The world according to Bryce”
Richard Guilliatt, The Weekend Australian Magazine, “The man and the myth”
Commended: Trent Dalton, Qweekend, The Courier-Mail, “Where to?”
RADIO JOURNALISM
RADIO NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS REPORTING
SPONSORED BY ABC
Michael Vincent, ABC Local Radio, “Violence escalates in Tahrir Square”
Nance Haxton, ABC Radio, “Law Council of Australia calling for law reform”
Mark Willacy, ABC Radio, “Tsunami mothers”
RADIO FEATURE, DOCUMENTARY OR BROADCAST SPECIAL
SPONSORED BY QUT CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Nance Haxton, PM, ABC Radio, “Intellectually disabled people fight for equal access to justice”
Claudia Taranto and Amanda Gearing, 360documentaries, ABC Radio National, “The day that changed Grantham”
Hagar Cohen, Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, “Online astroturfing"
ALL MEDIA
SUSTAINED COVERAGE OF AN ISSUE OR EVENT
SPONSORED BY APN
Mark Willacy, ABC Radio and ABC TV, “Tsunami mothers”
Ruth Pollard, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “After everything I have seen, I can tell you God cannot exist”
Stephen Drill and Ruth Lamperd, Herald Sun, “Cancer town”
Commended: Linton Besser, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Fraud probe snares top bureaucrats”
BEST SCOOP OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY NINE NETWORK
Steve Pennells, The West Australian, “Battle for billions”
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie and Jane Lee, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Church's suicide victims”
Hedley Thomas, The Australian, “Revealed: Gillard lost her job after law firm's secret investigation”
Commended: Kate McClymont, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “Thomson and Williamson and claims of secret commissions”
BUSINESS JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY J.P. MORGAN
Jane Cadzow, Good Weekend, Fairfax, “The Iron Lady”
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker, 7.30, ABC TV and The Age, Fairfax, “RBA faces questions over bribery connections”
Paola Totaro, The Australian Financial Review, “Inside the lair of the David Jones predator”
BEST BROADCAST CAMERAWORK
SPONSORED BY AUSTRALIAN SUPER
Tim Noonan, Sunday Night, Seven Network, “Amazon tribe”
Aaron Lewis, Dateline, SBS TV, “Orchestra of dreams”
Gary Ramage, News Limited, “This is Afghanistan”
Commended: Robert Hill, Foreign Correspondent, ABC TV, “China – Beyond the Lost Horizon”
COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
SPONSORED BY FAIRFAX
Robyn Wuth, Gold Coast Bulletin, “Faces of the Finks”
Heath Harrison and The Border Mail Team, The Border Mail, “The cruellest of heartaches”
Jill Emberson, Lucia Hill and Ben Millington, 1233 ABC Newcastle, “Hooked on heroin”
INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
Matthew Carney and Thom Cookes, Four Corners, ABC TV, “In their sights”
Yaara Bou Melhem, Geoff Parish and Garry McNab, Dateline, SBS TV, “Revolutions: rise and fall”
Aubrey Belford, The Global Mail, “Myanmar's bloody war in the shadows”
Commended: Greg Wilesmith and Ben Knight, Foreign Correspondent, ABC TV, “Revolution hijacked”
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY BAYER
Sarah Ferguson, Deb Masters and Irene Ulman, Four Corners, ABC TV, “Smugglers' Paradise – Australia”
Kate McClymont, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “Thomson: New credit card claims”
Linton Besser and Kate McClymont, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “Exposed: Obeids' secret harbour deal”
Commended: Sharona Coutts, Joel Tozer, Clare Blumer, Adam Glyde and Paul Farrell, The Global Mail, “Patients at risk”
COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
SPONSORED BY NITV
Russell Skelton, Glenn Campbell and Tom McKendrick, Fairfax Media, “Death in the Kimberley”
Caro Meldrum-Hanna, 7.30, ABC TV, “The Trauma of Toomelah “
John MacFarlane and SBS Team, sbs.com.au, “The Block: Stories from a meeting place”
WATCH 2012: BEST SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
SPORT JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY AUSTRALIA POST
Clay Hichens, Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Mario Christodoulou, Four Corners, ABC TV and The Age, Fairfax, “Inside mail”
Richard Guilliatt, The Weekend Australian Magazine, “The price of glory”
Brigid Donovan, Kirstin Murray, Gerald Tooth, Australian Story, ABC TV, “Paint the town black”
Commended: Hagar Cohen, Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, “Blood, sweat and tears in the cage”
Watch the best in sports photography from the past 12 months
SOCIAL EQUITY JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY SEVEN NETWORK
Steve Pennells, The West Australian, “Hopes of a generation wiped out on voyage”
Hamish Macdonald and Sam Clark, The Project, Network Ten, “Age of uncertainty”
Margot O'Neill and Tony Jones, Lateline, ABC TV, “Aged drugs”
COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
SPONSORED BY MEDIA MONITORS
Neil Chenoweth, The Australian Financial Review, “Murdoch's retreat is no horseplay”
John Silvester, The Age, “Over coffee, Carl murdered the truth”
Claire Harvey, The Sunday Telegraph, “Voice of the people not for threats”
BROADCAST AND ONLINE INTERVIEWING
SPONSORED BY THE MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS ALLIANCE
Leigh Sales, 7.30, ABC TV, “Interviews with Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and Christine Milne”
David Speers, Sky News, “Rudd exclusive”, “Shorten supports Gillard” and “Thomson quits”
Tracy Grimshaw, Cameron Smith and Grant Williams, A Current Affair, “Lindy Chamberlain”, “Deborah McKnight” and “Matthew Newton”
Commended: Jon Faine, Daniel Ziffer and Mary Bolling, 774 ABC, “Powerbroker Kroger lashes Costello, his friend and ally of 35 years”, “Crean attacks Rudd” and “Ambulance nightmare: left for dead, upside down, bleeding out”
ARTWORK
SPONSORED BY PREMIUM WINE BRANDS PERNOD RICARD
John Shakespeare, The Sydney Morning Herald, “The rise of Bob Carr”
Steven Grice, The Advertiser and News Limited websites, “Titanic Centenary”
Frank Maiorana, The Sunday Age, “The Storm Inside”
CARTOON
SPONSORED BY AUGUST
Andrew Marlton, Crikey, “Drowning”
Judy Horacek, The Age, “Not waving”
Mark Knight, Herald Sun, “My dysfunctional family”
BEST THREE HEADINGS
SPONSORED BY EPSON
Heath Harrison, The Border Mail, “Thin blue lie”, “Whodunnyt?”, “One big mist opportunity”
Paul Dyer, NT News, “Eyeful tower”, “Dogs of phwoaarr!”, “Why I stuck a cracker up my clacker”
Adrian Nesbitt, The Australian, “Spielberg shoots, Williams scores”, “Tendulkar dismissal the chink in India's karma”, “I have a nightmare and it's Martin Luther King: Jackie's tapes give a peek inside Camelot”
Commended: Dean Donoghue, The Sunday Age, “The cars that ate Detroit: the last wheel and testament…”
DIGITAL JOURNALISM
BEST DIGITAL JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY NEWS LIMITED
Asher Moses, Simon Morris, Tom McKendrick and Tim Mummery, smh.com.au, Fairfax Media, “Digital dreamers”
Stuart Washington, Tom Allard, Conrad Walters and UTS Team, smh.com.au, “Sky's the limit on political gifts”
Katharine Murphy, Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen, The Pulse, Fairfax Media, “Labor leadership showdown”
Commended: Sharona Coutts, Joel Tozer, Clare Blumer, Adam Glyde and Paul Farrell, The Global Mail, “Failing the aged: a multi-billion dollar mess"
LONG-FORM JOURNALISM
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD
SPONSORED BY LINC ENERGY
Celeste Geer, Rebel Films/ABC TV, “Then the Wind Changed”
Jacob Hickey, Northern Pictures/Fredbird Entertainment, SBS TV, “Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta”
Quentin McDermott, Morag Ramsay and Kevin May, Four Corners, ABC TV, “Closing Ranks”
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD
SPONSORED BY THE MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS ALLIANCE
Shortlist Finalists
Paul Cleary, Mine-Field: The Dark Side of Australia's Resources Rush, Black Inc
Robin de Crespigny, The People Smuggler, Penguin
George Megalogenis, The Australian Moment, Penguin
NIKON-WALKLEY AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PHOTOJOURNALISM
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
SPONSORED BY NIKON
Lukas Coch, Australian Associated Press, “Australia Day Protest”
Dan Himbrechts, The Australian, “Malcolm Naden”
Trevor Pinder, Herald Sun, “City Square Protest”
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
SPONSORED BY NIKON
David Kelly, Qweekend, The Courier-Mail, “Synch and Swim”
Phil Hillyard, The Daily Telegraph, “Sally – The Race for Gold”
Chris McGrath, Getty Images, “London 2012 – An Overview”
DAILY LIFE/FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
SPONSORED BY NIKON
Graham Crouch, The Australian Magazine, “Broken Lives”
Alex Ellinghausen, Fairfax Media, “Paralympic Swimmers: Team Photo”
Nicolas Walker, The Weekend Financial Review, “The Kattle Run”
PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
SPONSORED BY NIKON
Sam Ruttyn, The Sunday Telegraph, “Josh Carter, Super Boy”
Jason South, The Age, “Occupy Melbourne”
Craig Greenhill, News Limited, “No better friend, no worse enemy”
TELEVISION JOURNALISM
TELEVISION CURRENT AFFAIRS REPORTING (LESS THAN 20 MINUTES)
SPONSORED BY SBS
Hamish Macdonald and Sam Clark, The Project, Network Ten, “Age of Uncertainty”
Caro Meldrum-Hanna, 7.30, ABC TV, “The Trauma of Toomelah”
Robert Ovadia and Fiona Baker, Sunday Night, Seven Network, “Saxon Bird”
Commended: Mark Willacy, 7.30, ABC TV, “Kan exclusive”
TELEVISION NEWS REPORTING
SPONSORED BY THE MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS ALLIANCE
Mark Willacy, ABC News, ABC TV, “Tsunami mothers”
Sharri Markson, Lee Jeloscek, Adam Walters and Michael McKinnon, Seven News, Seven Network, “The cabinet leak”
Mark Simkin and Chris Uhlmann, ABC News, ABC, “Gillard vs Rudd”
TELEVISION CURRENT AFFAIRS, FEATURE OR SPECIAL (MORE THAN 20 MINUTES)
SPONSORED BY BBC WORLD NEWS
Sarah Ferguson, Deb Masters and Irene Ulman, Four Corners, ABC TV, “Smugglers' Paradise –Australia”
Matthew Carney and Thom Cookes, Four Corners, ABC TV, “In their sights”
Mary Ann Jolley, Geoff Thompson and Mary Fallon, Four Corners, ABC TV, “Unholy silence”
Commended: Quentin McDermott, Michael Doyle and Karen Michelmore, Four Corners, ABC TV, “Trial and error?”
WALKLEY AWARDS - MAJOR CATEGORIES
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY NIKON
Jason South, The Age
Chris McGrath, Getty Images
Justin McManus, The Age
GOLD WALKLEY
SPONSORED BY WESTFIELD
The Walkley Advisory Board chooses the winner of the Gold Walkley from among the winners of all other categories, except the “Journalism Leadership” and “Outstanding Contribution to Journalism” awards.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
SPONSORED BY SKY NEWS
The Walkley Foundation trustees recognise the achievements of someone who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the highest standards of journalism – truth, rigour, integrity, fairness – over a lifetime.
JOURNALISM LEADERSHIP
SPONSORED BY QANTAS
In recognition of outstanding acts of courage and integrity in the practice of journalism.
