The Walkley Foundation has announced the finalists for the 69th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
Shona Martyn, CEO of the Walkley Foundation, said: “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.
“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.”
This year the Walkley Foundation received 1,156 eligible entries, published or broadcast between 1 September, 2023 and 19 August 2024.
The Walkley Award finalists are chosen in a peer-reviewed process by leading Australian journalists who adhere to conflict of interest precautions. Judges determine the excellence and integrity of the finalists with criteria that include balance, accuracy, newsworthiness and available resources.
This year the Walkley Foundation required entrants to declare chequebook journalism, and introduced more rigorous reporting of AI and legal challenges, with a checking process that includes the assistance of three integrity observers.
Walkley Award winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the ICC in Sydney on Tuesday 19 November.
The winners of the Nikon Photography Prizes are announced below, along with the list of finalists for all the Walkley Awards.
69th Walkley Award finalists
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’ (1,2,3)
- Samantha Maiden, News.com.au, ‘Pay You Cash’ (1,2,3)
- Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 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 4000 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’ (1,2,3)
- Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia, ‘Speaking truth to power with graphs’ (1,2,3)
- David Leser, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The war in Gaza: Not in my Jewish name’ (1,2,3)
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’ (1,2,3)
- 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’ (1,2,3)
- Lorena Allam, Sarah Collard and Blake Sharp-Wiggins, Guardian Australia, ‘Buried Lives’ (1,2,3)
- Caroline Graham, Kylie Stevenson and Tilda Colling, The Australian, ‘NT Schools in Crisis’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
- Oliver Jacques, Region Riverina, ‘Rise and fall of Griffith winemaker who owes $32 million’ (1,2,3)
- Matthew Kelly, Newcastle Herald, ‘Three decades on the streets’ (1,2,3)
- Erin Parke and Andrew Seabourne, ABC News and ABC, 30, ‘Boat Arrivals’ (1,2,3)
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’ (1,2,3)
- 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’ (1,2,3)
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’ (1,2)
- 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’ (1,2,3)
AUDIO LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner McGrathNicol
- Paul Farrell and the Background Briefing Team, ABC, Background Briefing, ‘Stop and Search’ (1,2,3)
- 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’ (1,2,3)
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’ (1,2,3)
- Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’
- Christopher Walsh, NT Independent, ‘NT Labor’s ministerial shares scandal’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
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, 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’ (1,2,3)
- Christopher Knaus, Guardian Australia, ‘Out in the cold: Australia’s invisible crisis of homelessness deaths’ (1,2,3)
- Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING Australia
- Linton Besser and Ninah Kopel, ABC, 30 and ABC News, ‘Netstrata’ (1,2,3)
- Primrose Riordan and Sarah Thompson, The Australian Financial Review, ‘Jon Adgemis and the costs of the private credit boom’ (1,2,3)
- Jonathan Shapiro and Aaron Patrick, The Australian Financial Review, ‘The ANZ bond trading scandal’ (1,2,3)
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’ (1,2,3)
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
- Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC,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’ (1,2)
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’ (1,2)
- Avani Dias, Naomi Selvaratnam, Madeleine Genner and Mayeta Clark, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners and ABC Listen, ‘Reporting from Modi’s India’ (1,2,3)
- 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’ (1,2,3)
- Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD FINALISTS
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 31 October)
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
2024 NIKON PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE WINNERS
These are not Walkley Awards, but prizes administered by the Walkley Foundation on behalf of Nikon. These photos will also appear in the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography exhibition.
NIKON PHOTO OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Funeral at Al-Aqsa’
Funeral at Al-Aqsa: Palestinian mourners carrying a coffin are stopped momentarily by an Israeli police officer before entering the Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem. 27 October, 2023.
The 2024 Walkley Photography Judges said Kate Geraghty’s photo of Palestinian mourners being stopped by an Israeli official at the Al Aqsa mosque felt so emblematic of a frozen moment in the stand-off between two states, it had to be their Photo Of The Year. ‘No single image can capture the nuance of an entire story, but it can encapsulate in a moment a more complex story or issue. Kate Geraghty anticipated the moment, bearing witness with technical skill, exemplary composition and empathy. Even though this was a temporary impasse, and the funeral procession moved on, this moment indicates the stalemate of the past year’s conflict.’
NIKON PORTRAIT PRIZE
WINNER: Christopher Hopkins, The Age/SMH, Good Weekend Magazine, ‘Scars of Regret’
The Walkley Foundation thanked the many senior journalists who gave their time to judge the Walkley Awards this year:
- Natalie Ahmat, NITV
- Drew Ambrose, Al Jazeera English
- Richard Andrews, Sky News
- Ella Archibald-Binge, ABC30
- Paul Bailey, former editor, The Australian Financial Review
- Candida Baker, Freelance Journalist / author
- Anne Barker, ABC
- Caroline Baum, Freelance Journalist, radio and TV producer
- Bruce Belsham, Freelance
- Ray Bonner, freelance Journalist, book shop owner
- Alice Brennan, ABC Four Corners
- Peter Broelman, The Advertiser
- Emily Bryan, ABC Tasmania
- Jane Cadzow, Good Weekend
- Patrick Carlyon, Herald Sun
- Nicky Catley, Australian Geographic
- Antony Cirocco, Freelance producer, Photographer
- Tim Clarke, The West Australian
- Amanda Collinge, ABC Compass
- Matthew Condon, The Australian
- Alex Coppel, Freelance Photographer
- Miriam Corowa, ABC
- Jane Curtis, UTS Impact Studios
- Sarah Danckert, The Age
- Thea Dikeos, ABC 30
- Geraldine Doogue, ABC
- Aisha Dow, The Age
- John Durie, Freelance / The Australian columnist
- Tom Dusevic, The Australian
- Carly Earl, The Guardian
- Fiona Ellis-Jones, Australian Radio Network
- Monique Farmer, The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
- Declan Fry, Freelance Writer, poet, essayist
- Patricia Gill, Denmark Bulletin
- Nick Greenaway, Freelance
- David Hardaker, Freelance Journalist and author
- Belinda Hawkins, Freelance documentary producer/ director
- Elise Holman, Sky News
- Jonathan Holmes, Freelance
- Sandra Jackson, Seven West Media
- Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation
- Genevieve Jacobs, UTS Centre for Media Transition
- Matt Jasper, The Jasper Picture Company
- Erik Jensen, Schwartz Media
- Michael Kalenderian, Guardian Australia
- Melanie Kembrey, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald
- Mags King, Freelance
- Daniel King, First Person Films
- Kate Lahey, The Age
- Peta Landman , Freelance Writer, publisher, author
- Ellen Leabeater, Southern Cross Austereo
- Sean Leahy, The Courier Mail
- Joanna Mather, Australian Financial Review
- Jillian McClelland, Sydney Morning Herald
- Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute
- Luke McIlveen, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Karen Middleton, The Guardian
- Rosemarie Milsom, Newcastle Writers’ Festival
- Mark Morri, Daily Telegraph
- Kylie Morris, Freelance
- Callan Morse, National Indigenous Times
- Kirsty Needham, Reuters
- Sean Nicholls, ABC
- Bianca Nogrady, Freelance Science Journalist
- Gerard Noonan, Freelance
- Daniella Ortega, Screen Australia
- Sean Parnell, Brisbane Times
- Tamara Penniket, ABC
- Andrew Quilty, Freelance Photographer
- Chris Reason, Seven Network Australia
- Deb Richards, ABC Backroads
- Kellie Riordan, Deadset Studios
- Frank Robson, Good Weekend/ Freelance
- Stephen Romei, The Australian
- Colleen Ryan, Freelance
- Tory Shepherd, The Guardian (South Australia)
- Naomi Shivaraman, BlackBay Lawyers
- Suzanne Smith, Freelance
- Sue Spencer, Freelance Executive Producer
- Svetlana Stankovic, The Guardian
- Nina Stevens, Ten News First
- Rebecca Stubbs, SBS World News
- Matt Thompson, Seven Network
- Cam Tyeson, 10 News First
- Max Uechtritz, Kundu Productions
- Michael Usher, 7News
- John Van Tiggelen, Freelance
- Paul Walker, Channel 7
- Richard Welch, AFTRS
- Andrew Weldon, Freelance Cartoonist
- Charlotte Wheaton, Good Thing Productions
- Mike Williams, LiSTNR
See also: Australian Financial Review journalists receive gold Walkley award for PwC Tax leaks scandal