Nine’s Sydney Morning Herald has released its 2022 Impact Report, detailing the stories that shaped the year and having the team’s journalists look back at the reporting they did in 2022.
“2022. A year that tested our resilience and stirred hope. As the pandemic restrictions lifted, our top investigations held the power to account, shaped policy, and showed you what others wanted to hide. When the biggest headlines got too much, our life and culture coverage helped reignite our love for Sydney, the world, and each other,” wrote SHM Editor Bevan Shields in an introduction to the report.
The report begins with a list of the top investigations of the year, with six of the masthead’s biggest stories making the cut
• Health Gilmore’s Lismore’s Deadly Deluge covered the impacts of the flooding in the NSW town of Lismore, which saw the Perrottet government promise to overhaul its handling of natural disasters.
• Adele Ferguson’s Cosmetic Cowboys uncovered the details of who can legally call themselves a cosmetic surgeon, and resulted in a class action against a group of clinics.
• Carrie Fellner’s Regional Hospital Dysfunction covered the pitfalls of regional NSW hospitals, resulting in a parliamentary inquiry that found serious flaws with the state’s health bureaucracy.
• Eryk Bagshaw’s Blood Gold covered Chinese state-linked mining in Africa, and involved Australian and Chinese mining companies coming up against each other in a dispute that resulted in thefts and deaths.
• Nick McKenzie’s The Fallen Star uncovered the fact that Star Entertainment – the owner of Star Casino – had been enabling suspected money laundering, organised crime, and foreign interference.
• Adele Ferguson’s Medi-Scandal uncovered the fact that $8 billion of Medicare’s funding is potentially being wasted through fraud and errors.
The report goes on to list the key moments of 2022 – which, unsurprisingly, include the Russia-Ukraine war and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In some stats provided to the audience, the Sydney Morning Herald claims to be the #1 masthead in the country, with 2822 exclusive articles published.
Having introduced five new podcasts to the masthead’s portfolio – including Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions – the team will continue to bring news to listeners who prefer an audio medium in 2023.
Also looking ahead, the report highlights that the masthead’s first Gen Z trainees will assure that the Sydney Morning Herald will be continuing its work well into the future.