Walkley Awards 2022: winners

Four Corners, Seven News, 60 Minutes, 7:30 and ABC News were amongst winners of the 67th Walkley Awards held at ICC, last night in Sydney.

Four Corners won the Gold Walkley for Anne Connolly, Stephanie Zillman and Ali Russell’s report, “State Control.” The story revealed some 50,000 Australians are currently under the control of Public Guardian and Trustee agencies, stripped of their assets and stopped from speaking out.

Former executive producer Sally Neighbour (pictured top centre) was honoured for her Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.

“I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to win the 2022 Walkley for outstanding contribution to journalism, and to celebrate it with some of my dearest friends. Thank you,” Neighbour tweeted.

“These awards are testament to the talent, hard work and incredible dedication of our people,” said ABC Director, News Justin Stevens.

“Our journalists and teams are passionate about bringing the best public interest journalism to Australians and it’s wonderful to see their hard work recognised by their peers.

“The ABC’s journalism has never been stronger, more impactful or more accessible to all Australians.”

Chris Reason and the Seven News team also won two awards for Ukraine coverage.

Reason said: “Seven News is so proud to have received these awards. From the frontline team to the dozens of people who worked tirelessly to pull this award-winning coverage together back in Australia. Television news is a team effort – it takes editors, producers, camera crews, graphics units, chiefs of staff, techs, presenters and reporters. And it takes back-up from management. Seven News was inside Ukraine, on the frontlines, for a longer continuous stretch than any other media organisation. That takes a massive financial commitment – and I applaud Seven management for having the faith to back our teams on the ground for so long. Finally, we pay our greatest tribute to the people of Ukraine has come together – and stepped up. Their resilience and resolve have been beyond belief. And it is turning the course of the war. We salute them. It’s been an honour to tell their stories. Slava Ukraina!!”

60 Minutes was awarded for an investigation into Star Casino.

The Walkley Foundation’s chief executive, Shona Martyn said: “This has been a huge year for news with war in Ukraine, horrific floods and a federal election. Australian journalists, photographers and camera operators have excelled in their coverage of these major events, sometimes putting their lives on the line. This year’s best journalism also includes stories that were uncovered by old school legwork, tips, hard work, hunches and painstaking and considered investigation. I congratulate all the winners and finalists for their recognition in the 67th Walkley Awards. And thank our sponsors and partners for their support.”

TV and related categories (winners in bold)

Public Service Journalism 
Anne Connolly, Stephanie Zillman and Ali Russell, ABC Four Corners, “State Control”
Ruby Jones, Georgia Cranko, Erik Jensen and Elle Marsh, Schwartz Media, 7am, “The killing of Ann Marie Smith”
Katri Uibu, ABC News, “Bad parent: Life at the hands of Australia’s child protection system”

Innovation
Anna Caldwell and the Daily Telegraph documentary team, The Daily Telegraph, “The War”
Mark Doman and Michael Slezak, ABC, “Using 3D techniques to tell immersive stories” (1, 2, 3)
Colin Gourlay, Georgina Piper, Tim Leslie, Cristen Tilley and Matt Liddy, ABC News, “The Australian election map has been lying to you”

Coverage of Indigenous Affairs
Brooke Fryer, Claire Aird, Sissy Reyes and Patrick Forrest, SBS, The Feed, “Vanished: The unsolved cases of First Nations women”
Charlotte King and Carly Williams, ABC, Background Briefing, “The Fight for Control Over Black Births”
Louise Milligan, Naomi Selvaratnam and Lauren Day, ABC TV, Four Corners, “Heart Failure”

Coverage of Community & Regional Affairs
Sam Carmody, Anthony Pancia, Wayne Webb and Zac Webb, ABC, Background Briefing, ABC South West and Undalup Association, “The Ghosts Are Not Silent”
Samantha Jonscher and Alex Barwick, ABC Alice Springs, “Gendered violence in Central Australia”
Joanne Shoebridge, Julie Ray, Renata Gombac and Justine Frazier, ABC North Coast, “Northern Rivers flood catastrophe”

Sports Journalism
Craig Butt and Concussion Project Team, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Concussion in sport”
Lorna Knowles, Nikki Tugwell and Clare Blumer, ABC, “Painful Past: the John Wright series”
Jeremy Story Carter, ABC National Regional Reporting Team, “Death of a footy club”

Production
Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich, Audible/ Amazon, “The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment”
Mark Stehle and The Journey through Ukraine Team, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “6000km journey”
Mark Willacy, Stephanie March, Josh Roberston and Kyle Taylor, ABC Four Corners, “Ghosts of Timor”

Coverage of a Major News Event or Issue
Anthony Galloway and Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, “The invasion of Ukraine”
Heath Gilmore and the Hell on High Water Team, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Hell on High Water”
Chris Reason and Seven News Ukraine Team, Channel Seven, “Ukraine War”

Business Journalism
Sarah Danckert, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Secrets at Stake.com”
Nick Evans and John Stensholt, The Australian, “Twiggy’s Green Dream”
Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer, Amelia Ballinger, Nine, 60 Minutes, “Star and the gambling industry’s reckoning”

Television / Video: Camerawork
Matthew Davis, ABC Foreign Correspondent, “Myanmar’s Forgotten War” and “Keep Hawaii Hawaiian”
Ryan Grimshaw, NBN News and Nine Today Show/Nine News, “Ryan Grimshaw floods”
Ryan Sheridan, ABC Four Corners, “Despair and Defiance” and “Feral”

Television / Video News Reporting
Carrie-Anne Greenbank, Nine Network, “The War in Ukraine”
Chris Reason, Channel Seven, “Frontline in Ukraine”
Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and Phil Hemingway, ABC, “Ukraine war coverage”

Television / Video Current Affairs Short (Less than 20 Minutes)
Christine Ahern and Thea Dikeos, Nine Network, 60 Minutes, “Dying for Help”
Lorna Knowles and Nikki Tugwell, ABC, 7.30, “Painful Past: the John Wright series” [1, 2, 3]
Josh Robertson, Mark Willacy, Kyle Taylor and Echo Hiu, ABC, 7.30, “Fallen Star”

Television / Video Current Affairs Long (More than 20 Minutes)
Anne Connolly, Stephanie Zillman and Ali Russell, ABC, Four Corners, “State Control”
Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft and Lauren Day, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Four Corners, “Cosmetic Cowboys: The unregulated world of cosmetic surgery”
Belinda Hawkins, Kristine Taylor and Roger Carter, ABC, Australian Story, “No Place Like Home”

Radio / Audio Feature
Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich, Audible / Amazon, “The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment”
Rachael Brown, Mahmood Fazal and the Background Briefing team, ABC Background Briefing, “What happened to the Saudi sisters?”
Tom Steinfort and The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes team, Nine, “Liar Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions”

Investigative Journalism
Adele Ferguson, Joel Tozer, Klaus Toft and Lauren Day, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, 60 Minutes, and Four Corners, “Cosmetic Surgery in Crisis”
Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer and Amelia Ballinger, Nine, “The downfall of the gaming industry”
Hedley Thomas, David Murray, Isaac Irons, and Slade Gibson, The Australian, “Shandee’s Story”

Walkley Documentary Award Shortlist
Christopher Kamen, Franklin, Rock Island Bend Productions
Ben Lawrence and Gabriel Shipton, Ithaka, Shipton House and ABC
Karl Malakunas, Delikado, Thoughtful Robot Productions

Outstanding Contribution to Journalism
Sally Neighbour

The 2022 Walkley Judging Board were:
● Chair: Michael Brissenden, independent senior journalist and author
● Deputy chair: Cameron Stewart, The Australian
● Sarah Abo, 60 Minutes, Nine
● Neil Breen, 4BC Breakfast
● Ben Butler, Guardian Australia
● Jane Doyle, Seven News Adelaide
● Anton Enus, SBS World News
● Michelle Gunn, The Weekend Australian
● Stephen Hutcheon, ABC
● Narelda Jacobs, Network Ten
● Dean Lewins, AAP
● Hamish Macdonald, The Project, Network Ten
● Karen Middleton, The Saturday Paper
● Donna Page, The Newcastle Herald
● Sarah-Jane Tasker, The West Australian
● Kathryn Wicks, The Sydney Morning Herald