Walkley business finalists revealed
The three finalists in the Business category of the Walkley Awards for journalism have been reveealed.
The shortlist includes the Australian Financial Review’s analysis piece on Ten’s downward spiral; an article which ran in both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on misdemeanours within CommBank; and work by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on tax havens.
The announcement:
The three finalists in the prestigious Business category of the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were announced today at a lunch hosted by J.P. Morgan in Sydney. Finalists include:
James Chessell and Ben Holgate, The Australian Financial Review, “10 ways to kill a network”. A colourful insight into the gripping corporate saga at Network Ten, with impressive access to well-placed sources.
Adele Ferguson and Chris Vedalago, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Profit above all else: How CBA lost savings and hid its tracks”, “Targets, bonuses, trips: Inside the CBA boiler room”, “Senate to launch inquiry into ASIC”. This extensive investigation into the dark side of financial planning revealed a high-pressure sales culture at the Commonwealth Bank that saw customers, often retirees, losing their savings after being pushed into high-risk investments.
Gerard Ryle and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Team, icij.org, “Secret files expose offshore’s global impact”, “ICIJ releases offshore leaks database revealing names behind secret companies, trusts”, “Release of offshore records draws worldwide response”. Ryle obtained 2.5 million leaked records revealing the names behind more than 120,000 offshore companies, trusts and funds located in tax havens. In a ground- breaking reporting model, Ryle shared the information with the global journalistic community, triggering a worldwide response.
Australian Financial Review Melbourne bureau chief Mathew Dunckley – one of three judges asked to select finalists from more than 40 entries – said this year’s entries demonstrated the value of business journalism done well.
“Tenacious, forensic, entertaining, powerful, everything good reporting should involve,” he said. “It was also fascinating to see the innovation that is driving and improving our craft.
“Trying to pick the winners is an extremely difficult task not least because they demonstrate that business is not some narrow, grey field.
“Instead the entries highlight that business is all around us – it permeates society and shapes our nation and others. It is not only about numbers but about real people and personalities.
“The ability of these outstanding journalists, both the finalists and those who did not quite make it, to uncover and unpick important stories and to bring them to their audiences in an increasing variety of ways show that business journalism, even with its challenges, is a vibrant and vital contributor to our nation’s media.”
Walkley Advisory Board member James Kirby, among judges to select the winner to be announced at the upcoming Walkley Awards, said the judges were particularly impressed with both the quality and impact achieved by this year’s finalists in the business category.
“As big business continues to leverage the benefits of a ‘borderless world’ and domestic business becomes increasingly aggressive in attempting to use the courts as an instrument of media repression, we were impressed by the objectivity and clear sense of purpose among the top entries,” he said
“As the global economic recovery gathers pace, we expect to see more buccaneering entrepreneurs, rogues and outright frauds break upon the business scene to the detriment of the vast majority who do good business and build the nation’s wealth.
“It’s part of every business journalist’s job to expose the worst and reveal the best in business … we look forward to the year ahead.”
To read all finalists’ work, visit www.walkleys.com/2013finalists.
The Walkley Awards gala presentation will be staged in Brisbane on Thursday November 28 with the
support of Tourism and Events Queensland and broadcast on the ABC.
Tune in to ABC3 at 9pm – that’s channel 23 on Freeview or channel 723 on Foxtel – or watch the broadcast at abc.net.au. A one-hour Walkley Awards highlights program will screen on Sunday, December 1 on ABC1 at 2.00pm and will be available on ABC’s iview.
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