Walkley Awards 2017: winners

ABC and Nine were the big TV winners at the 2017 Walkley Awards held last night at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Nine’s 60 Minutes and A Current Affair won the two television current affairs categories.

ABC scored in Documentary, TV News Reporting, Coverage Of A Major News Event & Indigenous Affairs.

Hosted by Lisa Wilkinson, the evening included a tribute to John Clarke, farewell to Laurie Oakes and a standing ovation for ABC journalist Liz Jackson, who allowed Four Corners cameras to document her battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

​Fairfax Media’s Michael Bachelard and Kate Geraghty won the Gold Walkley Award​ for “Surviving IS: Stories of Mosul”.

ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie said, “The recognition for the ABC’s journalists at this year’s Walkley Awards reflects the independence and integrity of the work they do. Their achievements also reflect the ABC’s standing in the community as a highly trusted and valued source of news and information.”

ABC Director, News Gaven Morris said: “The coverage and programs honoured tonight are not only high quality journalism, they also made a significant impact on Australian public life and had great value for our audiences. The journalism always comes first, no matter what platform, channel or device it is delivered on. This recognition from our media peers is a great acknowledgment of the efforts of our journalists and teams.”

Darren Wick, Director of News & Current Affairs for Nine, said: “The Walkley Awards are given to the best of the best in Australian journalism. These stories are the result of endless hours of hard work, winning confidences, investigating all the twist and turns, and running down every lead to produce outstanding stories. And while Tara and Dimity have been singled out for praise, my thanks also go to every single person working on 60 Minutes and ACA. These are two unique groups of wonderful, dedicated, driven and passionate people whose professionalism and purpose in pursuing justice and revealing the truth bring enormous pride to the entire Nine News and Current Affairs family, right across Australia.”

TV and related categories:

Documentary:
A Sense of Self, Martin Butler, Liz Jackson, Bentley Dean and Tania Nehme, ABC TV
Deep Water: The Real Story, Amanda Blue, Darren Dale and Jacob Hickey, Blackfella Films Team, SBS TV
Glenn Murcutt–Spirit of Place, Catherine Hunter, Bruce Inglis and Julia Overton, Artsville, ABC TV

Television/Video: Camerawork
Daniel Fallshaw, Guardian Australia, “The Fight”
Aaron Hollett, ABC TV Four Corners, “Highway to Hell – The Battle for Mosul”
Aaron Smith, TheAustralian.com.au, “The Queen & Zak Grieve – Eps 1, 3 & 6”

Television/Video: News Reporting
Sophie McNeill, 7pm news, ABC TV, “Mosul coverage”
Sally Sara, ABC News, “Six Days in Somaliland”
Bryan Seymour and Megan Miller, Seven News, Seven Network, “Australia’s Child Brides”

Television/Video Current Affairs Short (Less Than 20 Minutes)
Dimity Clancey, A Current Affair, Nine Network, “Malcolm Naden Confession”
Matt Doran, Sunday Night, Seven Network, “Haiti Undercover”
Nathan Morris, ABC News, ABC TV and ABC Online, “The Leonora Undertaker”

Television/Video Current Affairs Long (More Than 20 Minutes)
Tara Brown, Grace Tobin and Sean Power, 60 Minutes, Nine Network, “Bitter Deal”
Winsome Denyer and Sophie McNeill, Australian Story, ABC TV, “Khaled Naanaa – The Road From Damascus”
Kirstin Murray and Roger Carter, Australian Story, ABC TV, “Tough Love”

Investigative Journalism
Linton Besser, Mary Fallon and Lucy Carter, Four Corners , ABC TV and ABC News Online, “Pumped”
Rachael Brown and the Radio National Team, ABC Podcast/ABC Radio, “Trace Podcast”
Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert and Klaus Toft, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “The Retirement Racket”

Commentary, Analysis, Opinion And Critique
Laurie Oakes, Nine News, “Unrivalled Analysis”
John Silvester, The Age and The Saturday Age, “Naked City”
Chris Uhlmann, Insiders, ABC TV, ABC Online & The Australian, “Trumped”

Coverage Of A Major News Event Or Issue
Michael Bachelard and Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “Stories of Mosul”
Louise Milligan, 7.30, ABC TV & Melbourne University Publishing, “George Pell Investigation”
Peter Ryan, AM, PM & The World Today, ABC Radio, ABC News 24 & BBC World Service, “Commonwealth Bank Scandal”

Production
The Australian Digital Team and In Films, The Australian Online, “The Queen & Zak Grieve”
The Fairfax Multimedia Team, theage.com.au, smh.com.au, watoday.com.au and canberratimes.com.au, “Surviving IS: Stories from Mosul”
The Siege Team, Four Corners, ABC TV, “The Siege”

Sports Journalism
Michael Bachelard and Nick McKenzie, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Fairfax Media, “AOC bullying crisis”
Louise Milligan, Lisa McGregor and Trish Drum, Four Corners, ABC TV, “After The Game”
Jamie Pandaram, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, “Western Force saga”

Coverage Of Indigenous Affairs
Jane Bardon, AM & PM, ABC Radio, 7.30 & News 24, ABC TV and ABC Online, “Demanding Justice: Marshall Wallace, BushMob and Stolen Generation 2”
Sarah Dingle and Wendy Carlisle, Background Briefing, Radio National, ABC & ABC Online “Death in Kalgoorlie”
Calla Wahlquist, Guardian Australia, “ Three deaths in WA”

Innovation
Rachael Brown, Jeremy Story Carter and Jesse Cox, ABC, “Trace”
Nick Evershed and Ash Jonceski, Guardian Australia, “Stories from the Census”
Ella Rubeli and SBS Online team, SBS Online, “K’gari”