Finalists announced for 2024 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism

Finalists for the Walkley Foundation’s 2024 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism have been announced today.

Peer-judged and selected on the basis of journalistic excellence, the Mid-Year Celebration suite administered by the Walkley Foundation includes the John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards, Coverage of Science and Environment, June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting, June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year, June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media, Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women, Media Diversity Australia Award, Humanitarian Storytelling Award, June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and The Pascall Prize for Cultural Criticism.

Walkley Foundation Chief Executive Shona Martyn said that once again the calibre of entries was extremely high.

“The new award for Coverage of Science and the Environment, introduced after much lobbying from journalists, proved its worth with 82 entries submitted from journalists from across all forms of news media. The June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism saw a significant surge in entries this year, indicating the breadth of stories to be captured in this sector. Reflecting major issues of our times, the Media Diversity Australia Award, the Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women and the Humanitarian Storytelling Award again had strong entries. 

“In the Student Journalist of the Year category it was particularly pleasing to see stories published in the University of Sydney’s Honi Soit, the Greek Herald and Al Jazeera make the finalists.

“The John B Fairfax Family Young Journalist of the Year Awards once again proved the merit of Australia’s young journalists who broke some of the biggest stories of the year. At a time when journalism is challenged on so many fronts, the perseverance, quest for truth and commitment to ethics and excellence of the next generation is vital.

“My congratulations to all the finalists for their excellent work. For those who did not make the shortlist this year, start working on your entries for next year now. And remember the Walkley Awards open on 1 July, 2024, and cover work published from 1 September, 2023 to 19 August, 2024.”

The Mid-Years are a standalone series of awards, held separately from the Walkley Awards which are announced in November. The Mid-Year Awards are not Walkley Awards. They are judged by panels of specialist judges with no involvement from the Walkley Judging Board. The Walkley Judging Board however selects the winner of the John B Fairfax Family Young Journalist of the Year.

Winners are chosen on the basis of overall merit and journalistic excellence. The Walkley Foundation encourages a diversity of entries from journalists around Australia, published or broadcast between 27 April, 2023 and 15 April, 2024. The Walkley Foundation has a mechanism for dealing with any conflict of interest, actual or perceived, that may arise during the judging process. The guidelines are based on the principle that all actual conflicts of interest are to be avoided and that even a perceived conflict may be damaging to all parties. 

Winners of all the awards will be announced at the Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism in Sydney on 20 June. At the Celebration, winners will also be announced for the Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship with Nine, the WIN News Broadcast Scholarship, the Walkley Indigenous Scholarship, and the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism.

In each award below, the finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

The John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards

Supported by Jibb Foundation

These awards recognise the hard work of our most outstanding young Australian journalists. They reward the efforts of journalists aged 28 and under who demonstrate excellence in the fundamental tenets of the profession, as well as the ability to present distinctive and original journalism that pushes the boundaries of the craft.

The winner of each of the six categories below will be eligible for the overall Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award. The ultimate winner will receive a two-week international trip to newsrooms (flights included) and a mentorship program to boost their career. 

The winner of each of the six categories will receive a complimentary place in an AGSM short course at UNSW Business School. All courses earn credit towards the AGSM Certificate of Executive Management and Development which, in turn, carries course credit into the AGSM MBA and Graduate Certificates.

Shortform journalism

Supported by ABC

Longform feature or special

Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

Coverage of community and regional affairs

Supported by Meltwater Australia

Visual storytelling

Supported by News Corp Australia

Public service journalism

Supported by Telum Media

Student journalist of the year

Supported by University of Sydney

Coverage of Science and the Environment

Supported by the University of Sydney Faculty of Science

June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting

June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year

June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media

Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women

Administered by The Walkley Foundation

Media Diversity Australia Award

Supported by Media Diversity Australia, The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council and Community Broadcasting Foundation, and administered by The Walkley Foundation 

Humanitarian Storytelling Award

Supported by UNICEF Australia and administered by The Walkley Foundation 

Arts Journalism

The following two awards recognise excellence in journalism about the creative arts, from the perspectives of both practitioners and critics. Through the generous support of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the winners of the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and The Pascall Prize for Cultural Criticism will each receive $5000 in prize money.

June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism

Supported by Copyright Agency

The Pascall Prize for Cultural Criticism

Supported by Copyright Agency and administered by the Walkley Foundation 

Each year hundreds of journalists, editors and producers give their time to judge our awards. Thankyou to all those who judged this year:

• Sue Ahearn, The Pacific Newsroom
• Drew Ambrose, Al Jazeera English 
• Candida Baker, freelance journalist 
• Bonnie Barkmeyer, WIN
• Josh Bavas, Nine News, Qld 
• Greg Bearup, The Australian
• Rob Beaumont, WIN
• Ce Benedict, ABC RN
• Kathryn Bermingham, The Advertiser, News Corp
• Jarni Blakkarly, Choice
• Jenny Brockie, journalist, broadcaster and facilitator
• Liv Casben, AAP 
• Kelly Clappis, WIN
• Rhanna Collins, NITV
• Stephanie Corsetti, Monash Uni
• Miriam Cosic, freelance journalist 
• Tyson Cottrill, NBN News, Nine 
• Sean Dorney, veteran Pacific journalist
• Suzanne Dredge, ABC
• Matthew Drummond, AFR Magazine
• Bryce Eishold, Stock & Land, ACM 
• Dr Susannah Eliott, Australian Science Media Centre 
• Steve Evans, Canberra Times, ACM 
• Mary Gearin, freelance journalist 
• Jano Gibson, ABC Hobart
• Alice Griffin, Junkee Media
• Rashell Habib, 10 News First
• David Hardaker, Under Investigation, Channel 9
• Virginia Haussegger, freelance journalist
• Anna Henderson, SBS 
• Andrea Ho, AFTRS 
• Dan Ilic, presenter, comedian and filmmaker
• Anita Jacoby AM, media executive, producer and NED
• Gabrielle Jackson, Guardian Australia
• Christian Jantzen, WIN
• Erik Jensen, The Saturday Paper, Schwartz Media
• Alex Johnston, WIN
• Nicole Johnston, Sky News Beijing
• Ramona Koval, Deakin University 
• Sophie Kuryl, WIN
• Dr Niraj Lal, ANU 
• Stella Lauri, WIN
• Professor Joan Leach, ANU
• Chip Le Grand, The Age 
• Dean Lewins, AAP
• Louisa Lim, Little Red Podcast / University of Melbourne 
• Stephen Long, The Australia Institute 
• Hamish Macdonald, Global Roaming, ABC and The Project, Paramount/Ten
• Nic Maclellan, freelance journalist
• Samantha Magick, Islands Business Magazine
• Pamela Magill, Network Ten 
• Natasha Mitchell, ABC
• Naomi Moran, Koori Mail 
• Kylie Morris, freelance journalist 
• Kate Muller, Nine 
• Leanne Nebe, WIN
• Sally Neighbour, formerly Four Corners, ABC
• Bianca Nogrady, freelance journalist 
• Gerard Noonan, formerly AFR and Media Super
• Helen O’Neill, freelance journalist 
• Corrie Perkin, Sorrento Writers Festival
• Jodan Perry, University of Newcastle
• Kerri Ritchie, NITV/SBS
• Chloe Saltau, The Age 
• Dr Darren Saunders, NSW Government, Office of the Chief Scientist
• Stefanie Sgroi, Nine
• Amruta Slee, ABC RN
• Bridie Smith, The Age
• Nicole Strahan, Network Ten
• Claire Stuchbery, Local and Independent News Association (LINA)
• Cameron Stewart, The Australian
• Dan Sutton, Network Ten
• Emily Sweet, Ballarat Courier, ACM 
• Edwina Throsby, AGNSW
• Alex Treacy, NT News
• Helen Trinca, The Australian
• Mariam Veiszadeh, Media Diversity Australia
• Ashleigh Wilson, Sydney Opera House

 

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