A months-long investigation into the broken NT school system published in The Australian and The Weekend Australian, has won freelancers Kylie Stevenson, Caroline Graham, and Matilda Colling the top award in MEAA’s 2024 NT Media Awards.
The NT Media Awards judges said: “The ‘NT Schools in Crisis’ series is an exceptional piece of public interest journalism. Stevenson, Graham and Colling forensically untangled a highly complex issue at the heart of many of the NT’s challenges. Their year-long investigation – including more than 100 interviews, extensive remote travel, multiple FOIs and a deep dive into the budget books – was compelling, nuanced and hard-hitting.
“It ultimately played an important part in securing a $1 billion funding boost for education in the NT.”
Aside from being named NT’s Journalists of the Year, the team won awards for Best Feature Writing, Best Online Coverage, Indigenous Affairs Reporting, and the Pete Davies Memorial Campaigning Journalism Award. The series photographer, Rebecca Parker, also took out the Visual Storytelling category.
The winners announced at The Reserve in Darwin:
TEXT: News Coverage
Christopher Walsh (NT Independent) “Shares Scandal: The Fall of Chief Minister Natasha Fyles”
TEXT: Best Feature Writing
Kylie Stevenson (Freelance published in The Weekend Australian Magazine) “Profile: Yingiya Guyula”
TV/RADIO: Best News Coverage
Matt Cunningham (SKY News Australia) “Spotlighting Territorian News”
TV/RADIO: Best Current Affairs or Feature
Matt Garrick, Raveen Hunjan, Shaun Kingma, Fred Shaw (ABC) “Community Under Curfew”
TV/RADIO: Excellence in Radio Broadcasting
Alex Barwick, Piia Wirsu, Grant Wolter, Elsa Silberstein, Blythe Moore (ABC) “Expanse: Spies in the Outback”
BEST ONLINE COVERAGE (Sponsored by MEAA)
Kylie Stevenson, Caroline Graham, Matilda Colling (Freelance, published in The Australian/The Weekend Australian) “NT Schools in Crisis”
BEST SPORTS JOURNALISM (Sponsored by MEAA)
Lillian Rangiah (ABC) “Remote sport trials and triumphs”
BEST CRIME/COURT REPORTING
Liam Mendes (The Australian) “Body of Work”
PETE DAVIES MEMORIAL CAMPAIGNING JOURNALISM AWARD
Kylie Stevenson, Caroline Graham, Matilda Colling (Freelance, published in The Australian/The Weekend Australian) “NT Schools in Crisis”
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS REPORTING
Kylie Stevenson, Caroline Graham, Matilda Colling (Freelance, published in The Australian/The Weekend Australian) “NT Schools in Crisis”
VISUAL STORYTELLING
Rebecca Parker (Freelance, published in The Australian/The Weekend Australian) “NT Schools in Crisis”
Gold Award Winners
MARCHBANKS AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG JOURNALIST
Lillian Rangiah (ABC) “Body of work”
2024 NT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Kylie Stevenson, Caroline Graham, Matilda Colling (Freelance, published in The Australian/The Weekend Australian) “NT Schools in Crisis”