The 2021 NRMA Kennedy Awards were held on Thursday, November 11. The Kennedy Prize for Journalist of the Year, the richest in Australian journalism, was fought out by finalists from The Sydney Morning Herald, news.com.au and The Australian/Sky News – with Samantha Maiden of news.com.au ultimately taking out the top honour.
Kennedy Foundation chairman Rocco Fazzari said the field of entrants submitting work from the 2020/21 financial year presented a formidable test for adjudicators in many categories.
“In a really big news year the standard of submissions was exceptional,” Fazzari said.
“The work of our 70 judges was really cut out for them this year and the Kennedy Foundation sincerely thanks them for their dedication and support.”
2021 NRMA Kennedy Awards Winners and Nominees
The Kennedy Prize – Journalist of the Year
Kate McClymont – The Sydney Morning Herald
Sharri Markson – The Australian, Sky News
WINNER Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Samantha Maiden
Outstanding Crime Reporting
Tara Brown, Gareth Harvey – 60 Minutes, 9
Caro Meldrum-Hanna – ABC TV
WINNER Kyle Taylor, Elise Worthington – Four Corners, ABC TV
Outstanding Regional Broadcast Journalism
Joanna Woodburn – ABC TV
WINNER Liz Hayes, Gareth Harvey – 60 Minutes, 9
Dimity Clancey – A Current Affair, 9
Outstanding Regional Newspaper Journalism
Ashleigh Tullis – The Illawarra Mercury
WINNER Ciara Bastow – The Lithgow Mercury
Elisabeth Champion – Naracoorte Herald
Outstanding Radio Journalism
Mark Willacy – ABC Investigations
Clinton Maynard – 2GB
WINNER Alex Mann, Kevin Nguyen – Background Briefing, ABC
Outstanding Podcast
Camille Bianchi – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast
WINNER Angus Grigg, Lap Phan – The Australian Financial Review
Tom Melville, Laura Corrigan – Australian Community Media
Outstanding Racing Writer
WINNER Damien Ratcliffe – The Age
Chris Roots – The Sydney Morning Herald
Ray Thomas – The Daily Telegraph
Outstanding News Photo
Kevin Nguyen – ABC News
WINNER Louise Kennerley – The Sydney Morning Herald
Brendan Esposito – ABC Online
Outstanding Portrait
WINNER John Appleyard – Wentworth Courier
Dallas Kilponnen – Northern Beaches Review
Louie Douvis – The Sydney Morning Herald
Outstanding Sport Photo
Marina Neil – The Newcastle Herald
Toby Zerna – The Daily Telegraph
WINNER Chris Hyde – Getty Images
Power of the Lens People’s Choice
WINNER Dallas Kilponen
Outstanding Online Video
Jane Thomson – The Sunday Telegraph
Emily Jane Smith, Rihab Charida, Gavin Blyth – SBS
WINNER 7news.com.au
Outstanding Illustration/Cartoon
Christopher Downes – The Hobart Mercury
WINNER Cathy Wilcox – The Sydney Morning Herald
David Rowe – The Australian Financial Review
Outstanding Team Player
WINNER Phil Williams
Outstanding Sports Reporting
Jessica Halloran, Julian Linden – The Australian, The Daily Telegraph
Quentin McDermott, Greg Hassall – Australian Story
WINNER Peter Badel, Travis Meyn, Robert Craddock – The Courier Mail
Young Journalist of the Year
Kamin Gock – Channel 9 News Perth
Adella Beaini – The Daily Telegraph
WINNER Natassia Chrysanthos – The Sydney Morning Herald
Outstanding Travel Writing
WINNER John Borthwick – The Weekend Australian
Craig Tansley – The Sydney Morning Herald
Katrina Lobley – The Weekend Australian
Outstanding Lifetime Achievement
WINNER John Laws
John Laws
Outstanding Indigenous Affairs Journalism
Karla Grant, Julie Nimmo, Michael Carey – Living Black NITV
WINNER Fiona Harari – The Weekend Australian
Australian Story – ABC
Outstanding TV Camera Work
Glen Ellis -7 News
WINNER Andrew Taylor – ABC
Nicholas Richardson – 9 News
Outstanding TV News Reporting
WINNER Amelia Adams – 9 News
Kieren Gilbert, Andrew Clennell – Sky News
Lorna Knowles – ABC News
Outstanding Nightly Current Affairs
WINNER Sharri Markson – Sky News
Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Matt O’Sullivan – 7.30, ABC-TV
Hannah Sinclair – A Current Affair, 9
Outstanding Long Form Current Affairs
WINNER Peta Credlin – Sky News
Caro Meldrum-Hanna – ABC
Adele Ferguson – ABC
Outstanding Columnist
Samantha Hutchinson, Stephen Brook – The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald
WINNER Wil Swanton – The Australian
Michael Pascoe – The New Daily
Outstanding Finance Reporting
WINNER Michael Roddan – The Australian Financial Review
Anthony Klan – The Klaxon
Adele Ferguson, Kate McClymont, Neil Chenoweth – The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review
Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting
Steve Marshall – A Current Affair, 9
Kevin Nguyen – ABC
WINNER The Feed – SBS
Outstanding Online News Breaking
WINNER 9 News Team
Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
7 News Team
Outstanding Court & Legal Affairs Reporting
Winsome Denyer – Australian Story
WINNER Lucy Cormack, Kate McClymont – The Sydney Morning Herald
Amy Bainbridge – ABC
Outstanding Reporting on the Environment
WINNER Andy Park, Alex McDonald – 7.30, ABC-TV
Natasha Mitchell – Radio National, ABC
Diana Plater – Australian Geographic
Scoop of the Year
WINNER Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Sharri Markson – The Australian
Mark Morri – The Daily Telegraph
Outstanding Investigative Journalism
Sharri Markson – The Australian
WINNER Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Elise Worthington & Kyle Taylor – Four Corners, ABC-TV
Outstanding Feature Writing
WINNER Kathy Marks – The Weekend Australian
Tracey Shelton – abc.net.au
Mridula Amin – ABC News
Outstanding Political Reporting
Paul Farrell, Alex McDonald, Kirsten Robb – 730, ABC-TV
Chris O’Keefe – 9 News
WINNER Samantha Maiden – news.com.au
Outstanding Foreign Correspondent
Sarah Ferguson – Foreign Correspondent, ABC-TV
WINNER Amelia Adams – 9 News
Jonathan Kearsley, Eryk Bagshaw, Anthony Galloway – 9 News, The Sydney Morning Herald
Top Image: Angus Grigg, Lap Phan from The Australian Financial Review receive the Award for Outstanding Podcast