Walkley Awards 2023: nominees

Nominees have been announced in the 2023 Walkley Awards for Journalism.

ABC, SBS, Nine, Seven, 10, NITV and FOX Docos / Binge are all contenders including for ABC News, 7:30, Four Corners, Dateline, 60 Minutes, The Australian Wars, Spotlight, Seven News and The Project.

Shona Martyn, CEO of the Walkley Foundation, said: “The importance of strong and incisive journalism is magnified right now as we watch war and atrocities explode internationally, wait with anxiety about a summer of potential natural disasters sparked by Climate Change and face a significant referendum this weekend about the Constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

“While the 68th Walkley Awards cannot recognise stories that have developed since our closing date for entries on August 31, this year’s finalists include stellar coverage of such pressing issues and more. Australia’s reporters, commentators, photographers, camera operators, cartoonists, podcasters, authors and documentary makers have produced extraordinary works of public interest journalism in the last 12 months. As they will in the next year. The quality of the finalists is high and they are all to be commended for shining a light on darkness and on telling the stories that need to be told in their own mediums.”

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the ICC in Sydney on Thursday November 23.

TV and related categories:

All Media: Commentary, Analysis, Opinion And Critique
Lorena Allam, Guardian Australia, ‘An Indigenous Perspective on the Voice’
John Lyons, ABC, ‘John Lyons Body of Work’
Katharine Murphy, Guardian Australia, ‘Saturday Political Commentary’

All Media: Explanatory Journalism
Matt Bevan, Yasmin Parry, Andrew George and Andrew Harrison, ABC, ‘If You’re Listening’
Karla Grant and the Living Black Team, NITV, ‘Referendum for an Indigenous Voice: The Campaigners’
Rick Morton, The Saturday Paper, ‘The Robodebt Royal Commission’

All Media: Coverage Of Indigenous Affairs
Ben Abbatangelo, Anthony Hawwa, Andy Marriott and Casey Vigushin, Network 10, The Project, ‘Young Voices Lost’
Bridget Brennan, Suzanne Dredge, Brooke Fryer and Stephanie Zillman, ABC, Four Corners, ‘How Many More?’
Mathew Cornwell, Carrie Fellner, Katrina McGowan and Rhett Wyman, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Paradise Poisoned’

All Media: Coverage Of Community & Regional Affairs
Tallulah Bieundurry, Hannah Murphy, Erin Parke and Andrew Seabourne, ABC, 7.30 and ABC News, ‘Kimberley Floods’
Daniel Clarke, Fox Docos, Binge, The Advertiser, ‘Body of Work’
Christopher Walsh and David Wood, NT Independent, ‘Fatal Failures: Behind the Scenes of the Zach Rolfe Affair’

All Media: Sports Journalism
David Mark, ABC 7.30 and ABC News, ‘“After Almost 30 Years, These Women are Finally Seeing Justice”: The Investigation into Paedophile Rock Climbing Coach, Stephen Mitchell’
Pat McGrath, Alex McDonald, Carla Hildebrandt and Sarah Curnow, ABC, Four Corners and ABC News, ‘Game, Bet, Match’
Team Fenech, Spotlight and Channel 7 News, ‘Thanks for the Memories – Mario Fenech’

Digital Media: Innovation Journalism
ABC News Video Lab and the Indigenous Affairs Team, ABC, ‘Locked Up and Locked Down’
ABCQueer, ABC Innovation Lab and ABC Digital Story Innovations Team, ABC News, ‘Retracing the Steps of the First Mardi Gras’
The Offside Project Team, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘How to Lay a Perfect Offside Trap – and How to Break It’

All Media: Scoop Of The Year
Liam Bartlett, Steve Jackson and Mark Llewellyn, Channel 7, Spotlight, ‘Trial and Error’ (revoked)
Josh Hanrahan and Mark Morri, The Daily Telegraph, ‘Cooma Taser Scandal’ ($)
Andrew Probyn and Jake Evans, ABC News, ‘Lidia Thorpe and the Bikie Boss’

All Media: Coverage Of A Major News Event Or Issue
The Australian Financial Review Team, The Australian Financial Review, ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal – AFR Coverage’
Michael Bachelard, Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Joel Tozer, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, ‘Home Affairs Failings’
The State of Addiction Team, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘State of Addiction’

Television/Video: Camerawork
Matt Davis, ABC, Foreign Correspondent and ABC News, ‘Surviving in Somalia’ and ‘Canada on Fire’
Tom Joyner, ABC News, ‘International Humanitarian Coverage’
Andy Taylor and Roger Price, SBS, Dateline, ‘Ray Martin: Mysteries of the Outback’

Television/Video: News Reporting
Colin Cosier and Ben Lewis, SBS World News, ‘Ukraine: One Year On’
Paula Doneman, Robert Ovadia and Kathryn Sutton, 7NEWS Australia, ‘Hearts Bleed Blue’
Prue Lewarne, SBS World News, ‘Haiti’s Turmoil’

Television/Video: Current Affairs Short (Under 20 Minutes)
Amelia Ballinger and Nick McKenzie, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Home Truths’
Gavin Blyth, Michelle Elias, Jennifer Luu and Jodie Noyce, SBS, The Feed, ‘Uncovering Incels’
Dan Nolan, Nine, A Current Affair, ‘Childcare Whistleblower’

Television/Video: Current Affairs Long (Over 20 Minutes)
Mahmood Fazal, Amos Roberts and Dylan Welch, ABC, Four Corners, ‘Cocaine Nation: Australia’s Booming Drug Trade Revealed’
Angus Grigg, Jessica Longbottom, Jonathan Miller and Maddison Connaughton, ABC, Four Corners, ‘Shadow State’
Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Joel Tozer, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Trafficked’

All Media: International
Anthony Galloway and Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘Winter in Ukraine’
Stephanie March, Naomi Selvaratnam, Shaun Kingma and Matt Henry, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘Philippines: Saving the Children’
Marty Smiley and Leah Donovan, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘Inside Iran: The Fight Continues’

All Media: Investigative Journalism
Alexandra Blucher and the Background Briefing and ABC Investigations Teams, ABC, Background Briefing and ABC News, ‘How the System Failed to Save Darcey and Chloe’
Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros, The Australian Financial Review, ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal
Kate McClymont and Thea Dikeos, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Charlie Teo: The Profit of Hope’

Walkley Documentary Award Finalists
Darren Dale, Belinda Mravicic, Jacob Hickey and Allan Clarke, The Dark Emu Story, Blackfella Films / ABC
Isabel Darling and Tom Zubrycki, The Carnival, Torchlight Media
Rachel Perkins, Darren Dale and Jacob Hickey, The Australian Wars, Blackfella Films / SBS Australia

Updated: Dec 7

The Board of The Walkley Foundation has reviewed documents uploaded to the Federal Court this week which show an exclusivity agreement made between Seven and Bruce Lehrmann in April 2023 and a leasing arrangement which provided Mr Lehrmann with 12 months of accommodation from 13 April 2023 to 12 April 2024.

It is the responsibility of The Walkley Foundation management to determine the eligibility of entries for consideration by the judging panels in each round of judging for the Walkley Awards. 

Following a review of these documents, The Walkley Foundation Board has come to the unanimous conclusion that the Seven Spotlight story “Trial and Error” was not eligible for consideration in the All Media Scoop of the Year category for the 2023 Walkley Awards as the entry did not accurately describe the extent of benefits provided to Mr Lehrmann in exchange for interviews, information and exclusive access.

The Walkley Foundation has revoked the story’s finalist status in the 68th Walkley Awards.