The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union and industry advocate for Australia’s journalists, has announced the winners of the 2015 Clarion Awards.
The winners were revealed on Saturday night, August 29, at a gala dinner for 300 guests in the Boulevard Room of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, hosted by Nine’s Katherine Feeney and the Courier-Mail’s Baz McAlister.
The Clarion Awards, administered by MEAA, recognise excellent in Queensland journalism across a range of categories.
The 2015 Queensland Journalist of Year is the ABC’s Kathy McLeish. She also shared the Clarion for All Media – Investigative Journalism with colleagues Michael McKinnon and Heida Rexa for coverage of the Barrett closure inquiry.
In awarding her Journalist of the Year, the judges said: “Kathy McLeish is the reporter who initiated and drove the ABC television coverage that examined the closure of Queensland’s Barrett mental health facility for adolescents at risk of suicide, bringing an important but very painful issue to the forefront. In so doing she pushed the Queensland Government to announce a royal commission into the issue, as well as prompting an inquest into three deaths of young people who had been classed as suicide risks. Having gained the trust of the families involved Kathy worked tirelessly on a series of reports, which exposed flaws in the handling of the closure and the support offered. The investigation, which took months of tenacious digging for government information, plus extended interviews with distraught families, was an example of journalism at its best. It was not just great, it was outstanding.”
The Clarion for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism went to Greg Chamberlin. The judges said: “Gregory Thomas Chamberlin retired from News Queensland in 2008 after almost 50 years in journalism. At the heart of the newsroom’s respect for Greg was his editorship of the newspaper and journalistic leadership during the “so-called” Fitzgerald period. During the period leading to the inquiry and throughout Greg steered the newspaper and journalists in getting the story and then sticking with it. He helped build the resilient culture that has seen Queenslanders better served than voters in most other states by a vigilant media.”
The Clarion for All Media – Broadcast Interview went to the ABC’s Matt Wordsworth for his interview with Bruce Flegg. Rosanne Barrett and Michael McKenna of The Australian won the Clarion for Business Journalism. The Clarion for Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique was won by Paul Syvret of The Courier-Mail. Alyse Edwards of the ABC took out the award for New Journalist of the Year.
MEAA congratulates all the Clarion Award winners in what has been a standout year for excellent Queensland journalism. The full list of the 2015 winner of Clarion Awards appears below.
Photo: News Corp Clarion winners as photographed by News Corp’s Daniel Johnson
2015 Queensland Clarion Award Winners
The 2015 Queensland Journalist of the Year
Sponsored by Griffith University
• Kathy McLeish, ABC
Outstanding Contribution to Journalism
Sponsored by The University of Queensland
• Greg Chamberlin
All Media – New Journalist of the Year
Sponsored by QLD Parliamentary Media Gallery
• Alyse Edwards, ABC News, Body of Work
All Media – Investigative Journalism
• Kathy McLeish, Michael McKinnon and Heida Rexa, ABC, The Barrett closure inquiry
All Media – Broadcast Interview
Sponsored by Queensland Police Union
• Matt Wordsworth, ABC, Bruce Flegg Interview
All Media – Business Journalism
• Rosanne Barrett and Michael McKenna, The Australian, Queen’s Wharf
All Media – Commentary, Analysis, Opinion & Critique
Sponsored by Three Plus Pty Ltd
• Paul Syvret, The Courier-Mail, Collected Columns
All Media – Health and Wellness
Sponsored by Diabetes Qld
• Mike Bruce, The Sunday-Mail, Kokoda: The Walk of Life
All Media – Indigenous Issues Reporting
• Michael Madigan, The Courier-Mail, Beyond the Dark Clouds
All Media – Most Outstanding Journalism Student
Sponsored by Media Super
• Ashley Porter, University of the Sunshine Coast, Body of Work
All Media – Multicultural Queensland Award
Sponsored by Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland
• Stefan Armbruster, SBS World News, Asylum seekers and refugees: Changing the Conversation
All Media – Rural Journalism
Sponsored by Rural Press Club
• Pip Courtney and Caitlyn Gribbin, ABC, The Big Dry
All Media – Social Issues Reporting
Sponsored by Network Ten
• Matt Wordsworth, ABC, Domestic Violence Series
All Media – Sports Journalism
Sponsored by Lion
• The Courier-Mail/Sunday-Mail Group Entry; Peter Badel, Todd Balym, Chris Garry and Jeremy Pierce, The Courier-Mail/The Sunday-Mail, Titans drug scandal
All Media – Freelance Journalism
• Andrew McMillen, Good Weekend magazine, The Weekend Australian, Magazine, Backchannel, the technology section on Medium.com, The Weekend Australian Review, BuzzFeed, Body of Work
Online Journalism
• David Murray and Kate Kyriacou, The Courier-Mail, Ultimate Betrayal-The murder of Allison Baden-Clay
News Photograph- Metropolitan
• Peter Wallis, News Corp Australia, Gerard Baden-Clay
Photographic Essay
• Luke Marsden, News Queensland, Reef Rescue
Sports Photography
• Darren England, The Courier-Mail, Tim Cahill
Print/Online – Feature Article
Sponsored by Local Government Association of Queensland
Winner
• Janelle Miles, QWeekend/The Courier-Mail, Fatal Fingers
Print/Online – News Report
Sponsored by Chanel Nine Brisbane
• David Murray and Kate Kyriacou, The Courier-Mail, Ultimate Betrayal-The murder of Allison Baden-Clay
Print /Online – Best Three Headings
Sponsored by Seven Network Brisbane
• Sean Keeley, The Courier-Mail, “Jihad me at hello” ,” Voyage of the crammed” and ” Fillip for Republicans”
Print /Online – Artwork
• Sharni Hargrave, Seven News, The Dynamics of Graphics: Revolutionising Graphic Captions for Live Production
Regional & Community – Print/ Online: News Report
Sponsored by Ipswich City Council
• Laura Nelson, Gold Coast Publications, Park of Shame
Regional & Community – Broadcast Report
• Bruce Atkinson, ABC, Biloela Flood
Regional & Community – Print /Online: Feature Article or Opinion:
Sponsored by Council on the Ageing (COTA)
• Adam Davies, Australian Regional Media, Innocence stolen
Regional & Community – News Photograph
• Glenn Hampson, Gold Coast Bulletin, How do you tell him?
Radio – Current Affairs, Feature Documentary or Special
Sponsored by Media Super
• Stephanie Smail, ABC, Exposing a hidden threat
Radio – News Report
• Nick Wiggins, 4BC, State Election 2015
Television – Current Affairs, Feature Documentary
Sponsored by Queensland Police Union
• ABC/Landline Group Entry, Nicole Bond, Heida Rexa, Matt Wordsworth, Pip Courtney and Caitlyn Gribbin, ABC, ABC News Special: Getting a Grip on Drought
Television – The John Bean Award for News and Current Affairs Camerawork
Sponsored by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
• Daniel Burton, Lee Carseline and Mark Deadman, Seven News, Kokoda 2015
• Peter Steer, Seven News, Cameraman Carjacked
Television News Report
Sponsored by QUT Creative Industries
• Max Futcher and Mark Michalek, Seven News, Bali Executions: Drug smuggling ringleaders final days