The Walkley Foundation: Winners announced for 2024 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism
ABC Broken Hill journalist Bill Ormonde was named the 2024 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year, as the Walkley Foundation honoured all the winners in the 2024 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism in Sydney this evening.
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.
Winners were also 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.
Walkley Foundation Chief Executive Shona Martyn congratulated the winners and recipients.
“The quality of the entries was extremely high this year. The Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism recognises both the rising stars of journalism and more senior specialist reporters committed to crucial concerns of our times. In every instance, the judges had a tough job selecting the winners and finalists. My congratulations to them all.”
Bill Ormonde was named overall 2024 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year after winning the Visual Storytelling category for ‘Out of the Darkness’. An interactive online story about mental health in remote Australia and a grazier who had tried to take his own life, the story was also a finalist for Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs with additional reporting for Landline. Ormonde worked in regional television for several years before joining the ABC in 2021. Since arriving in Broken Hill, he has reported for programs including AM, The World Today and Landline as a video journalist, covering an area the size of Germany almost alone.
The judges said “Bill Ormonde exercised real sensitivity as a journalist to reveal the life-changing consequences of mental illness for people in remote Australia. Bill’s work shows a level of maturity rarely found in such a young journalist.”
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. To be eligible for the 2024 awards, entries must have been 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.
The full list of winners follows.
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.
2024 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year
Supported by Jibb Foundation
Bill Ormonde, ABC, ‘Out of the Darkness‘
Thanks to the Jibb Foundation’s support, Bill will receive a two-week international trip to newsrooms (flights included) and a mentorship program to boost his career.
Shortform journalism
Supported by ABC
Liam Mendes, The Australian, ‘NT body of work’ (‘“No idea what we’re facing”: Alice crime scourge escalating’,‘“This situation is a travesty”: justice not served in this territory’, ‘Voice referendum: Rita Jingo asks Australians to think about what their vote means for her grandchildren’)
Longform feature or special
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Brooke Fryer, ABC Background Briefing, ‘Tears, tea and bloodshed — can violent men ever change?‘
Coverage of community and regional affairs
Supported by Meltwater Australia
Melissa Mackay, ABC, ‘The crime crisis nobody is talking about’ (‘As domestic violence services cry out for funding, the NT government builds two new art galleries’, ‘Family of murdered domestic violence advocate welcome coroner to her home, as long-running inquiry nears end’, ‘The NT coroner examined the territory’s ’domestic violence epidemic’ in a series of inquests. This is what she uncovered’)
Visual storytelling
Bill Ormonde, ABC, ‘Out of the Darkness‘
Public service journalism
Supported by Telum Media
Olivia Jenkins, Herald Sun, ‘Abandoned‘, ‘Rescue Mission‘, ‘Provider faces fake docs fine‘
Student journalist of the year
Supported by University of Sydney
Pamela Rontziokos, UTS / The Greek Herald, ‘Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia’s funeral certificate under scrutiny
Coverage of Science and the Environment
Supported by the University of Sydney Faculty of Science
Jessica Longbottom, Elise Kinsella, Madi Chwasta and Joseph Dunstan, ABC, ‘Air Pollution at Southern Cross Station’ (‘Why Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station may have some of the ’least clean’ air in the city’, ‘Living above Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station, Catherine’s family can smell the fumes’, ‘Instagram reel’)
June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting
Ewin Hannan, The Australian, ‘CSL’s secret plan to cut pay, sack staff’ (‘“Industrial bastardry”: CSL’s secret plan to cut pay, sack staff’, ‘Unions tell super funds to drop CSL’, ‘Directors at CSL “must quit Reserve”’)
June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year
Gabriella Coslovich, Good Weekend and The Saturday Paper, ‘Body of work’ (‘Fine Lines’, ‘The Art of War’, ‘Grand-standing’)
June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media
Jess Hill and Tosca Looby, Northern Pictures / SBS / The Monthly, ‘Asking for it’ (Episode 2, Episode 3); ‘How to Change a Bad Law‘
Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women
Administered by The Walkley Foundation
Jessica Lodge, Melissa Downes and Adam Buncher, Nine Entertainment Co., ‘Hannah’s Story‘ (Episode 1, 2 and 5)
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
Liz Hayes, Gareth Harvey, Anushri Sood and Sonia Serrao, Under Investigation with Liz Hayes, Channel Nine, ‘Shots Fired‘
Humanitarian Storytelling Award
Supported by UNICEF Australia and administered by The Walkley Foundation
Drew Ambrose, David Boyle and the 101 East team, Al Jazeera English, ‘Mindset: Mental trauma in a warzone: Why Ukraine needs therapists‘
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
Marc Fennell, Corrin Grant, Dean Brosche and Una Butorac, SBS News Documentaries, ‘The Mission‘
The Pascall Prize for Cultural Criticism
Supported by Copyright Agency and administered by the Walkley Foundation
André Dao, The Saturday Paper, Meanjin and Liminal Review of Books, ‘Review of Nam Le’s 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem’, ‘A Minor Australian Literature’, ‘Fugue’
Scholarships, Fellowships & Grants
Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship
Supported by: Anita Jacoby, Nine Network and AFTRS
Hannah McKinney, University of Sydney
WIN News Broadcast Scholarship
Supported by: WIN News
Caitlyn Todoroski, UNSW
Walkley Indigenous Scholarship
Supported by: BHP, Ten and Junkee Media
Jack Larkin
Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism
Supported by private donors
Cooper Williams and Yasmine Wright Gittins
Prianka Srinivasan
Thank you to our judges
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
