Walkley Foundation launch documentary award
The Walkley Foundation yesterday launched the Walkley Award for Excellence in Documentary.
Helping to launch the award was Walkley award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Anna Broinowski at the Museum of Sydney.
“It is inspiring to know that sound ethics, solid research, accuracy and public benefit are all to be valued in this unique and timely award,” Said Broinowski. “With information delivery platforms now sped up to the point that a Twitter sentence is news, it is encouraging to know that the Walkley Foundation values the narrative complexity, intellectual engagement and emotional depth that longer-form documentaries continue to achieve.”
The award is looking for excellence in the examination of both national and international issues, including investigative, biographical and first-person stories.
The documentary award adds a 34th category to the Walkley Awards and joins the Walkley non-fiction book award in recognising and encouraging excellence in long-form journalism.
Media Alliance federal secretary and Walkley Foundation CEO, Christopher Warren said, “Through the Walkley Documentary Award, we hope to encourage the professional development of journalists as documentary makers, to encourage journalism’s intellectual honesty in this powerful form – and to recognise those who are able to realise journalism’s primary aim: enlightenment through the pursuit of truth.”
Entries for the inaugural Walkley Award for Excellence in Documentary open on Friday 1 July. The winner will be announced on Sunday 27 November.
