Dateline's Yaara Bou Melhem was amongst the 2011 Walkley Award winners in Brisbane last night, picking up the award for international journalism after travelling to Bahrain and Syria. Her December trip to Syria, 'Struggle for Freedom', particularly impressed the judges.
'Yaara Bou Melhem showed considerable courage and initiative going into Bahrain and Syria in the early days of the Arab Spring – one of the biggest stories of the year. Her strong entry highlights bloody repression in the two states, and the young journalist overcame considerably dangerous obstacles to provide reports ahead of many of her international contemporaries. Very gutsy, very daring!'
SBS was also singled out in the inaugural Walkley documentary award, which went to 'The Tall Man', produced by Darren Dale, Tony Kawitz and Chloe Hooper for Blackfella Films.
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A full list of the winners can be found on the Walkleys website
In other awards, the ABC's Four Corners picked up the esteemed Gold Walkley for its report into the live cattle trade, one of nine awards for the network.
Wikileaks' Julian Assange accepted the award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, while the Weekend West's Joseph Catzano took home best print news report for the 'Secret toll of war', focusing on Australian soldiers wounded in action.
Seven News's coverage of the Lockyer Valley flood took home the award for TV news reporting, while Matt Moran and Hugh Riminton of Ten News scored scoop of the year for their 'Skype scandal'story.
