2024 Walkley Awards shortlist revealed
The finalists for the 69th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism have been announced.
The Walkley Foundation received 1,156 eligible entries this year, for work between September 1, 2023 and August 19, 2024.
The premier event recognises and rewards the best in national journalism and are described to set the industry standard for excellence.
Among the finalist this year are Annabel Crabb’s ‘Shades of Grey‘ series for ABC News; Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard and Amelia Ballinger’s ‘The Pezzullo files’ for the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes; and Edmund Tadros’ ‘Inside the undoing of PwC‘ for the Australian Financial Review.
ABC’s Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett have been named finalists in two categories – Television/Video: Current Affairs Short (Under 20 minutes) for the ‘Financial Housing Prison‘ 7:30 report and Television/Video: Current Affairs Long (Over 20 minutes) for the Four Corners’ ‘Pain Factory‘ investigation.
As well as the Pezzullo files, Nick McKenzie has been shortlisted in the Walkley Documentary Award Finalists category, alongside Dora Weekley, Orly Danon, and Chris Masters for the Stan film ‘Revealed: Ben Roberts-Smith Truth on Trial’ and in the Television/Video: Current Affairs Short (Under 20 minutes) category for the 60 Minutes report ‘The Power Player‘, with Amelia Ballinger and Michael Bachelard.
“This has been an extraordinary year for news, both locally and internationally. The finalists in the 69th Walkley Awards reflect the fine work produced by Australian reporters, commentators, photographers, camera operators, cartoonists, podcasters, authors and documentary-makers on these matters of immense public interest,” said Walkley Foundation’s chief executive officer, Shona Martyn.
“In every category, the quality of the finalists is high which made the first round judging process challenging.
“My congratulations to the judges for taking part in this exhaustive process and to the finalists who will now be considered in the final round by the Walkley Judging Board, chaired by Sally Neighbour. It is an immense honour to be named as a Walkley finalist. Good luck to all who have made it to this point.”
The finalists are chosen via a peer-reviewed process by leading Australian journalists. This year, the Walkley Foundation required entrants to declare chequebook journalism, and it introduced more rigorous reporting of AI and legal challenges.
The winners will be crowned at a gala dinner at Sydney’s International Convention Centre (ICC) on November 19, 2024.
The full 2024 shortlist:
Print/Text News Report
- Carrie Fellner, Matt Davidson, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Michael Evans, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The factory that contaminated the world’
- Samantha Maiden, News.com.au, ‘Pay You Cash’
- Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’
Feature Writing Short (Under 4,000 words)
Award Partner: The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Lorena Allam, Sarah Collard and Blake Sharp-Wiggins, Guardian Australia, ‘Buried Lives‘
- Jackson Ryan, The New York Times, ‘The Long, Long Way to the Woods‘
- Ben Walter, Island, ‘The Only Fish: Flathead Decline in Tasmania’
Feature Writing Long (Over 4,000 words)
- Nicole Hasham, Australian Book Review, ‘Bloodstone: The day they blew up Mount Tom Price‘
- Sarah Krasnostein, The Monthly, ‘Peace in the Home: The trial of Malka Leifer‘
- Edmund Tadros, The Australian Financial Review, ‘Inside the undoing of PwC‘
All Media: Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique
Award Partner: Thomson Geer Lawyers
- Annabel Crabb, ABC News, ‘Shades Of Grey’
- Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia, ‘Speaking truth to power with graphs’
- David Leser, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The war in Gaza: Not in my Jewish name’
All Media: Explanatory Journalism
- Mridula Amin and Alex Lim, ABC News, ‘This isn’t the 30s I was promised‘
- Faster, higher, stronger team, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘Faster, higher, stronger’
- Riley Stuart, Lucy Sweeney and Haidarr Jones, ABC News, ‘Inside Israel’s ’doomsday’ development
All Media: Coverage of Indigenous Affairs
- ABC News Perth, ABC News, ‘WA’s Youth Justice Crisis – The Death of Cleveland Dodd’
- Lorena Allam, Sarah Collard and Blake Sharp-Wiggins, Guardian Australia, ‘Buried Lives’
- Caroline Graham, Kylie Stevenson and Tilda Colling, The Australian, ‘NT Schools in Crisis’
All Media: Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs
Award Partner: BHP
- Oliver Jacques, Region Riverina, ‘Rise and fall of Griffith winemaker who owes $32 million’
- Matthew Kelly, Newcastle Herald, ‘Three decades on the streets’
- Erin Parke and Andrew Seabourne, ABC News and ABC, 7.30, ‘Boat Arrivals’
All Media: Cartoon of the Year
- Matt Golding, The Age, ‘(M)Any questions?’
- Fiona Katauskas, Guardian Australia, ‘True Colours of 2024‘
- Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Break glass’
All Media: Sports Journalism
Award Partner: University of Queensland
- Tom Decent, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The secret Zoom call that brought down a Wallabies coach’
- SBS News Documentaries, SBS Television, ‘Came From Nowhere: Australia’s Most Controversial Football Club’
- Michael Warner, Herald Sun, ‘White Line Fever: AFL illicit drugs crisis’
Sport Photography
- David Gray, AFP, ‘Light, shadows, action at the Australian Open tennis’
- Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Birdsville Rodeo’
- Quinn Rooney, Getty Images, ‘Australians in the Pool’
Audio Short (Under 20 minutes)
Award Partner: ABC
- Ayla Darling and Hannah Palmer, Triple J, Hack, and ABC Investigations, ‘Behind closed doors: How one child’s voice exposed the dangers of rape inside mental health hospitals‘
- Nick Dole, ABC, AM, ‘After October 7’
- Peter Ryan, ABC, The World Today and ABC News Daily, ‘Demise of the Flying Kangaroo. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce takes emergency exit. Sacked Qantas workers win David vs Goliath battle’
Audio Long (Over 20 minutes)
Award Partner: McGrathNicol
- Paul Farrell and the Background Briefing Team, ABC, Background Briefing, ‘Stop and Search’
- Charlotte King and Andy Burns, ABC, Background Briefing, ‘The price of freebirth’
- Megan Williams and Dan Schulz, 2DRY FM and Community Radio Network, ‘Water Watch: Wilcannia Weir or Wilcannia Won’t’
Digital Media: Innovation Journalism
Award Partner: Master Builders Australia
- Guardian Australia team, Guardian Australia, ‘Leaving Gaza‘
- Josh Nicholas and Andy Ball, Guardian Australia, ‘Quiz: what’s getting better for Australians today, and what’s getting worse?‘
- The Visual Stories Team and Shane Wright, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and WAtoday, ‘AI language models – Budget speeches analysis‘
All Media: Scoop of the Year
Award Partner: The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard and Amelia Ballinger, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, ‘The Pezzullo files’
- Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’
- Christopher Walsh, NT Independent, ‘NT Labor’s ministerial shares scandal’
All Media: Coverage of a Major News Event or Issues
Award Partner Ogilvy
- 9News & Current Affairs – Bondi Attack Team, Nine, 9News, A Current Affair and Today, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbings’
- Building Bad Team, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes, ‘Building Bad’
- Chris Reason and Simon Hydzik, 7NEWS, ‘Israel-Hamas War’
News Photography
- Flavio Brancaleone, The Sydney Morning Herald, News.com.au and The Australian, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbing Attack, no place is immune to the reach of terror’
- Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Aftermath of October 7 attacks’
- David Gray, AFP, ‘Walk to freedom’
All Media: Specialist and Beat Reporting
- Carrie Fellner, Matt Davidson, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Michael Evans, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The factory that contaminated the world’
- Christopher Knaus, Guardian Australia, ‘Out in the cold: Australia’s invisible crisis of homelessness deaths’
- Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’
All Media: Business Journalism
Award Partner: ING Australia
- Linton Besser and Ninah Kopel, ABC, 7.30 and ABC News, ‘Netstrata’
- Primrose Riordan and Sarah Thompson, The Australian Financial Review, ‘Jon Adgemis and the costs of the private credit boom’
- Jonathan Shapiro and Aaron Patrick, The Australian Financial Review, ‘The ANZ bond trading scandal’
Feature/Photographic Essay
- Sean Davey, Oculi / ABC News, ‘The Goode Fight’
- Diego Fedele, Getty Images, ‘In the Shadow of a Deadly Sky’
- Christopher Hopkins, Al Jazeera, ‘They Teach Us to Sing’
Television/Video: Camerawork
- Matthew Davis, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘From the high Arctic, to the hustle of Seoul‘
- Scott Morelli, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Sending a Message‘
- Cameron Schwarz, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘US Immigration‘
Television/Video: News Reporting
Award Partner: Seven
- 9News and Current Affairs – Bondi Attack Team, Nine, 9News, A Current Affair and Today, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbings’
- Ben Lewis, SBS World News, ‘October 7 Attacks’
- Sharri Markson and Montana Duncan, Sky News, ‘Nine’s MeToo moment’
Television/Video: Current Affairs Short (Under 20 minutes)
Award Partner: SBS
- Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC, 7.30, ‘Financial Housing Prison‘
- Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Michael Bachelard, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘The Power Player‘
- The Sunday Mail and Courier-Mail Prayed Upon team, The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail, ‘Prayed Upon’
Television/Video: Current Affairs Long (Over 20 minutes)
Award Partner: TEN News First
- Building Bad Team, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Building Bad‘
- Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC, Four Corners, ‘Pain Factory‘
- Ben Smee, Jennifer Luu, Jodie Noyce and Chloe Angelo, SBS, The Feed and Guardian Australia, ‘In The Box: Inside the isolation cells where Australian kids are imprisoned‘
All Media: International
Award Partner: Sydney Airport
- Dateline Team, SBS, Dateline, ‘Finding Yusuf’
- Avani Dias, Naomi Selvaratnam, Madeleine Genner and Mayeta Clark, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners and ABC Listen, ‘Reporting from Modi’s India’
- Prue Lewarne, SBS News, ‘Inside Nicaragua’
All Media: Investigative Journalism
Award Partner: Guardian Australia
- Building Bad Team, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes, ‘Building Bad’
- Echo Hui, Elise Potaka and Dylan Welch, ABC, Four Corners and ABC News, ‘Ruthless Pursuit – China’s Secret Police, its Agents, and Global Campaign of Repression’
- Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’
Walkley Documentary Award
Award Partner: MinterEllison
- Katrina McGowan, Janine Hosking, Mat Cornwell and Carrie Fellner, iKandy Films and Stan, How To Poison A Planet
- Erin Moy, Gabriel Gasparinatos, Sarah Noonan and Jennifer Peedom, Entropico, Stranger Than Fiction and Netflix, ONEFOUR: Against All Odds
- Dora Weekley, Orly Danon, Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, Stan, Revealed: Ben Roberts-Smith Truth on Trial
Walkley Book Award Longlist (shortlist to be announced October 31)
Award Partner: Banki Haddock Fiora
- Julia Baird, Bright Shining, HarperCollins Publishers
- Andrew Fowler, Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty, Melbourne University Publishing
- Sarah Gilbert, Unconventional Women, Melbourne University Publishing
- David Hardaker, Mine is the Kingdom, Allen and Unwin
- Royce Kurmelovs, Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil, University of Queensland Press
- Anne Manne, Crimes of the Cross: The Anglican Paedophile Network of Newcastle, Its Protectors and the Man Who Fought for Justice, Black Inc.
- Lucia Osborne-Crowley, The Lasting Harm, Allen and Unwin
- Alison Sandy, Bryan Seymour, Sally Eeles and Marc Wright, The Lady Vanishes, HarperCollins Publishers
- Hedley Thomas, The Teacher’s Pet, Pan Macmillan Australia
Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year
Award Partner: Nikon
- Matthew Abbott, Freelance / Oculi
- Christopher Hopkins, Freelance
- Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Well done 7 West Media. Two nominations, one West Australian story and it was scooped by an eastern States Journalist.
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