Walkley Awards: Samantha Maiden wins Gold + full winners list

Walkley Awards

• The 66th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 30 categories

Walkley Awards

Samantha Maiden won the Gold Walkley last night for her reporting for news.com.au on Open secret: The Brittany Higgins story

The judges said: “Samantha Maiden broke the story of Brittany Higgins’ allegation of sexual assault in Parliament House and pursued it fiercely for weeks. Her powerful reporting revealed significant new angles that built a disturbing picture of the mistreatment of women in Australian politics and fuelled a national discussion about gender relations that dominated public affairs in 2021.”

Samantha Maiden accepts the Gold Walkley

The 66th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 30 categories, announced in Sydney.

Winners of the Walkley Awards were selected by the Walkley Judging Board in October, after first round peer-judging in September. 

Full list of winners:

PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Award Partner Media Super
Kate McClymontThe Sydney Morning Herald, “The Lady Vanishes: Melissa Caddick and the missing millions”

PUBLIC SERVICE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Sydney Airport
Naaman ZhouGuardian Australia, “Australia’s delivery deaths: the riders who never made it and the families left behind”, “’They don’t have brakes, the tyres are gone’: food delivery companies accused of bike safety failures” and “Uber Eats riders earning as little as $5 for deliveries crossing multiple NSW suburbs

INNOVATION
Award Partner Google News Initiative
Kylie Boltin, Ella Rubeli, Ravi Vasavan and Emma AndersonSBS, “Ravi and Emma

HEADLINE, CAPTION OR HOOK
Award Partner ACM
Duska SulicichThe Age, “Michael rolled, the vote assured, Hallelujah!”, “It’s all a bit cray-cray” and “The Art of the Steal”

FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner Facebook
Andrew QuiltyThe Monthly, “The Worst Form of Defence: New revelations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan

FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Tom PattersonThe Australian, “Searching for a lost soul

Walkley Awards

COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Award Partner PwC Indigenous Consulting
Karla Grant, Julie Nimmo, Michael Carey, Mark Bannerman and the Living Black TeamLiving Black, NITV, “Taken”, “Missing Pieces” and “Heritage Victory

COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY OR REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
Andrew MessengerNorthern Daily Leader, “‘You feel so powerless’: little room for kids in rural mental health”, “Banksia Mental Health Unit: children’s services ruled not ‘economies of scale’ in plan for new mental health unit” and “Tamworth Banksia Mental Health modelling says New England North West won’t need more general-purpose beds until 2031

CARTOON
Award Partner Epson
David PopeThe Canberra Times, “Rollout de Vax”

SPORTS JOURNALISM
Michael WarnerHerald Sun, “‘Do Better’: The Secret Collingwood Racism Report

Walkley Awards

SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
Alex Coppel, Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser, “The Games that Had to Happen”

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
Award Partner ABC
Sally Sara and Victoria PengilleyRN Breakfast and The World Today, ABC, “Afghanistan Interviews

RADIO/AUDIO FEATURE
Award Partner Telum Media
Angus Grigg and Lap PhanThe Australian Financial Review, “The Sure Thing

PRODUCTION
Rhiona-Jade Armont and the 101 East team, Al Jazeera English, “This is Myanmar’s State of Fear

SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nine News
Ellen WhinnettThe Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Advertiser and The Courier-Mail, “The AN0M Files”

COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Sky News Australia
Samantha Maiden and the news.com.au team, news.com.au, “Open Secret: The Brittany Higgins story”

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
Brook Mitchell, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Sydney Anti-Lockdown Protest”

BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING
Caitlyn RintoulThe West Australian, “Police investigating alleged sexual assault at BHP’s South Flank mine near Newman”, “WA mining giants unite for apology to female mine workers and back calls for sex assault inquiry” and “Mine site sexual harassment inquiry: Submission shows BHP sacked dozens of WA workers

FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Award Partner Canva
Dean Sewell, The Sun-Herald, “Of Mice and Men”

TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
Andy Taylor, ABC TV, “Exposed – The Ghost Train Fire

TELEVISION/VIDEO NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven
Peter Fegan and Rebeka PowellNine News 6pm, Nine, “The Investigation of Andrew Laming”

TELEVISION/VIDEO CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (LESS THAN 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
Christine AhernA Current Affair, Nine, “Epping Disgrace

TELEVISION/VIDEO CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (MORE THAN 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner TEN News First and The Project
Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer60 Minutes, Nine, “Nazis Next Door

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner AGL
Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer60 Minutes and The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Nine, “Nazis Next Door”, “Inside Racism HQ: How home-grown neo-Nazis are plotting a white revolution” and “From kickboxing to Adolf Hitler: the neo-Nazi plan to recruit angry young men

Walkley Awards

COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers
Katharine MurphyGuardian Australia, “Brittany Higgins’ shocking story must be a turning point. Women in politics have had enough”, “Canberra’s pale, stale and male tribe is missing the moment – as it did with Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech” and “Scott Morrison’s efforts to engage with women are more ‘me’ than mea culpa

WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Award Partner NSW Government
Firestarter – The Story of BangarraIvan O’Mahoney, Wayne Blair and Nel Minchin, In Films, ABC

WALKLEY BOOK AWARD
Award Partner Banki Haddock Fiora
Kate HoldenThe Winter Road, Black Inc.

NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
Alex Coppel, Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph and The Courier-Mail 

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Award Partner News Corp Australia
George Negus

GOLD WALKLEY
Samantha Maiden
news.com.au, “Open secret: The Brittany Higgins story”

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