The ‘Building Bad‘ investigation has won the 2024 Gold Walkley, Australian journalism’s highest honour, for reports broken by a team of journalists across The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes.
The winner was selected unanimously by the Walkley Judging Board, as the story of the year. The judges declared it ‘an incredible, courageous feat of investigative journalism with huge ramifications. A story Australian journalists have been trying to tell for decades’. They added: ‘Nick McKenzie and his team finally nailed it, in a massive cross-platform, inter-newsroom collaboration.’
The Building Bad Team is Nick McKenzie from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, David Marin-Guzman from The Australian Financial Review, Ben Schneiders from The Age, Garry McNab and Amelia Ballinger from 60 Minutes, and Reid Butler from Nine News.
The 69th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 30 categories, announced tonight in Sydney.
Nick Moir was named the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year for his portfolio of work published in the Sydney Morning Herald. Andrew Fowler took out the Walkley Book Award for Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty (Melbourne University Publishing). And How To Poison A Planet won the Walkley Documentary Award, made by Katrina McGowan, Janine Hosking, Mat Cornwell and Carrie Fellner (iKandy Films and Stan).
Pioneering Australian business journalist Robert Gottliebsen was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Journalism which is awarded by the Walkley Foundation’s board of directors.
The Walkley Foundation’s chief executive, Shona Martyn said: “There were more than 1100 entries in this year’s Walkley Awards from journalists, photographers, documentary makers, authors, cartoonists and producers. The quality of their work was extremely high this year proving the excellence of Australia’s leading journalists. My congratulations to the winners and the finalists.”
The chair of the Walkley Judging Board, Sally Neighbour, said: “The Walkleys do not condone or reward chequebook journalism. Our rules have been strengthened this year to make this unequivocal.
“In my first year as chair of the Walkley Judging Board, I have been inspired by the calibre of the journalism before us. I commend all of our finalists and winners for their work.”
Winners of the Walkley Awards were selected by the Walkley Judging Board in October, after first round peer-judging in September. The Walkley Book Award and the Walkley Documentary Award were judged separately by experts in those fields. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
This year the Walkley Foundation required entrants to declare chequebook journalism, and introduced more rigorous reporting of AI and legal challenges, with a checking process that includes the assistance of three integrity observers. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here, conflict guidelines here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
The list of winners follows.
For media enquiries, contact:
- James Gorman on james.gorman@walkleys.com or 0414 990 480
- Clare Fletcher on clare.fletcher@walkleys.com or 0432 616 810
69th Walkley Award Winners
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Carrie Fellner, Matt Davidson, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Michael Evans, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The factory that contaminated the world’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Ben Walter, Island, ‘The Only Fish: Flathead Decline in Tasmania’
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
Sarah Krasnostein, The Monthly, ‘Peace in the Home: The trial of Malka Leifer‘
ALL MEDIA: COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers
David Leser, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The war in Gaza: Not in my Jewish name’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM
Faster, higher, stronger team, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘Faster, higher, stronger’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Caroline Graham, Kylie Stevenson and Tilda Colling, The Australian, ‘NT Schools in Crisis’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
Matthew Kelly, Newcastle Herald, ‘Three decades on the streets’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: CARTOON OF THE YEAR
Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Break glass’
ALL MEDIA: SPORTS JOURNALISM
Award Partner University of Queensland
Michael Warner, Herald Sun, ‘White Line Fever: AFL illicit drugs crisis’ (1,2,3)
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
Quinn Rooney, Getty Images, ‘Australians in the Pool’
AUDIO SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner ABC
Ayla Darling and Hannah Palmer, Triple J, Hack, and ABC Investigations, ‘Behind closed doors: How one child’s voice exposed the dangers of rape inside mental health hospitals‘
AUDIO LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner McGrathNicol
Paul Farrell and the Background Briefing Team, ABC, Background Briefing, ‘Stop and Search’ (1,2,3)
DIGITAL MEDIA: INNOVATION JOURNALISM
Award Partner Master Builders Australia
Guardian Australia team, Guardian Australia, ‘Leaving Gaza‘
ALL MEDIA: SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard and Amelia Ballinger, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘The Pezzullo files’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Ogilvy
Chris Reason and Simon Hydzik, 7NEWS, ‘Israel-Hamas War’
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
David Gray, AFP, ‘Walk to freedom’
ALL MEDIA: SPECIALIST AND BEAT REPORTING
Award Partner MEAA
Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING Australia
Linton Besser and Ninah Kopel, ABC, 7.30 and ABC Investigations, ‘Netstrata’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Diego Fedele, Getty Images, ‘In the Shadow of a Deadly Sky’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
Matthew Davis, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘From the high Arctic, to the hustle of Seoul‘
TELEVISION/VIDEO: NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven News
Ben Lewis, SBS World News, ‘October 7 Attacks’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Michael Bachelard, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘The Power Player‘
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner TEN News First
Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Building Bad‘
ALL MEDIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM
Award Partner Sydney Airport
Dateline Team, SBS, Dateline, ‘Finding Yusuf’ (1,2)
ALL MEDIA: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Guardian Australia
Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Award Partner MinterEllison
Katrina McGowan, Janine Hosking, Mat Cornwell and Carrie Fellner, iKandy Films and Stan, How To Poison A Planet
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD
Award Partner Banki Haddock Fiora
Andrew Fowler, Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty, Melbourne University Publishing
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Robert Gottliebsen AM
2024 GOLD WALKLEY
Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes, Nine, ‘Building Bad‘
The Walkley Judging Board:
- Chair: Sally Neighbour
- Deputy Chair: Cameron Stewart, The Australian
- Sarah Abo, TODAY / 60 Minutes, Nine
- Suzanne Dredge, ABC (abstained from 2024 judging)
- Colleen Egan, author and former journalist
- Anton Enus, SBS World News, SBS
- Rashell Habib, Paramount
- Gabrielle Jackson, Guardian Australia
- Kate Kyriacou, The Courier-Mail (abstained from 2024 judging)
- Claire Mackay, ABC South Australia
- Konrad Marshall, Good Weekend, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Solua Middleton, ABC
- Jake Nowakowski, Herald Sun
- Donna Page, The Newcastle Herald
- Mark Riley, Seven News
- Kathryn Wicks, The Sydney Morning Herald
