The Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism
What are the judging criteria?
The following judging criteria are applied to all awards administered by the Walkley Foundation unless explicitly stated otherwise in a category description (such as, for example, the Walkley Book Award). In addition to how well an entry responds to a category’s requirements, judges will consider the below (noting some criteria may be more or less relevant across different categories):
- How the story was initiated and followed (with particular credit given for instigating or finding a story)
- Newsworthiness, including exclusivity
- Consideration of the resources available
- Creativity and innovation
- Research and investigation
- Balance, accuracy, and ethics
- Consideration of production pressures or deadlines and time constraints
- Demonstration of best use of the format/s in which the work was published or broadcast, including clever choices in storytelling through multimedia
- Excellence in written or verbal communication and/or technical and production skill
- Public impact or benefit, including audience engagement and serving specific communities
How are the Walkley Awards judged?
Each entry is judged on how well it responds to the:
- Category description;
- Adherence to the Terms and Conditions; and
- Judging criteria.
Most Walkley Awards are judged in a two-tier process. The first round is judged by a specialist three-person jury (except in the case of the photographic awards, which comprises five judges). Each first round panel selects three finalists. Second round judging is done by the Walkley Judging Board, which assesses the finalists in each category to determine the overall winners. They also select the winner of the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year and the Gold Walkley Award.
The exceptions are the Outstanding Contribution to Journalism winners, selected by the Walkley Foundation board of directors, and the Walkley Book Award and Documentary Award which are judged in a two-tier process by specialist judges.
The Walkley Foundation’s judging process aims to reflect the diversity of the Australian media with judges from different organisations, backgrounds and geographical locations. In the judging process, the Walkley Foundation strenuously avoids conflicts of interest.
Journalistic experience is the prime driver of selection for judging panels. Judges of the Walkley Awards for journalism and photography volunteer their time. The Walkley Foundation facilitates the judging process but has no involvement in the decision-making process, with the exception of Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, which is decided by the Walkley Foundation board of directors.
First round judging:
- First round judging panels are made up of three specialist journalists, from different media organisations who volunteer their time. They assess all eligible entries in a category.
- The Walkley Foundation uses three integrity observers to review entries prior to first-round judging.
- Entries which have breached the entry conditions and terms and conditions will be disqualified prior to judging.
- Some categories have up to four first-round judging sessions because of the number of entries or the time required to assess the works. In such instances entries are split across two or three panels which each select three potential finalists. A final round assesses the longlisted entrants to choose the three finalists. These categories include:
- Audio Long (over 20 minutes)
- The Walkley Book Award
- The Walkley Documentary Award
Second round judging:
- The Walkley Judging Board reviews and assesses all finalists to determine the winner across each categories, aside from the Documentary, Book Award and Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. Members of the Walkley Judging Board serve terms of approximately three years and are chosen for their industry experience and diversity.
Conflicts of interest in judging:
- Judges with conflicts of interest are excused and replaced
- A conflict of interest might be real or perceived
- Conflicts of interest include close professional and close personal relationships
- A close professional relationship might be a direct report or supervisor
- A close personal relationship might be a current or former spouse, relative, or close friend
- Simply having met someone or having worked for the same organisation may not constitute a conflict of interest. The Walkley Foundation will discuss such situations ahead of the judging process
- The Walkley Foundation does not permit anyone to judge an entry that they have written, edited, commissioned or worked on in any capacity.
How are judges selected?
First-round judges are invited based on their experience, specialisation, editorial acumen, and professional skills.
The Walkley Foundation works to build balanced judging panels comprised of judges from diverse backgrounds, different media organisations and geographical locations.
Judges do not necessarily have to be working journalists currently employed by a media organisation. Retired journalists, for example, might also be invited to judge.
How many times can I enter?
Entrants may enter multiple categories subject to the terms below:
- Individual entrants may enter only once in each category
- The same entry can be submitted into a maximum of two categories
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- You must complete a separate entry form for each category you are entering.
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- You can enter up to two times in one category in the following instances:
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- One entry is single; and the other is a joint, group or team entry
- Both entries are a joint, group or team entry, and the duos, teams or groups are different in each case
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What do I put in my Entry Statement?
Your 400-word Entry Statement is your opportunity to explain to the judges how the work you are submitting excels when measured against the category description and judging criteria.
It is also a space to explain anything behind the scenes that may not be visible to your audience but explains to the judges the journalistic excellence of your submission.
A strong Entry Statement should be succinct and address the selection criteria.
You may wish to explain how the story came about, what measurable impacts it led to, the challenges you encountered producing it, how it was resourced, whether it was exclusive, how it might be innovative, if it is ongoing, and so on.
If there is anything the judges might question – for example, any ethical or editorial issues – don’t leave them wondering. Address it in your Entry Statement.
Your Entry Statement is held to the same journalistic standards as the work you are submitting and any element of it could be fact-checked. Keep your Entry Statement factual, avoid misleading embellishments, and always opt for full transparency. If you use AI in preparing your entry statement, this must be declared in the AI declaration section.
Do the new chequebook journalism clauses mean that I need to provide receipts with my entry?
The Walkley Foundation has updated its processes around chequebook journalism. Please refer to our Terms & Conditions for details.
Any payments, inducements, or benefits of any kind totalling more than $200 provided to interviewees, participants in stories, their representatives, associates, relatives, or other related parties, either directly or via other means, including value-in-kind benefits, whether before, during, or following the publication of the relevant story or series of stories, must be declared and quantified on the application.
Please attach an itemised budget in the relevant box in your Awardforce entry. You do not need to include receipts, however the Walkley Foundation may ask for these at a subsequent stage if there are any concerns.
Does my entry have to be verified? How does verification work?
Yes. Entries must be verified to progress to the judging stage.
It is the responsibility of entrants to ensure their entries are verified. The Walkley Foundation cannot follow up individual verifiers on entrants’ behalf.
When you submit your entry, your nominated verifier will immediately receive an automated email asking them to confirm the works are legitimate.
Be certain to provide a direct email address for your verifier, and not a generic email address of an organisation.
If your verifier is familiar with the work you are submitting, the process will take them a few seconds.
My verifier didn’t receive an email to verify my work. What should I do?
This is highly unlikely as this is an automated process. Once you submit your entry, you will receive an email notification from the Walkley Awards advising your submission has been received and is awaiting verification. The verifier will also receive an email from the Walkley Awards asking them to action the verification. Some busy verifiers may miss this email, so as a first step, please ask your verifier to search their inboxes, including spam and junk folders, for the email before contacting the Walkley Foundation.
Entries that are not verified will not proceed to the judges.
How do I verify my entry if it includes works published or broadcast in different media outlets?
If your submission includes a body of work consisting of stories published or broadcast by different media outlets, select one person to receive the automated email to verify the work relevant to them, and clearly provide the names and contact details of the other verifiers in your Entry Statement.
You must state who is verifying what part of your entry.
You should contact each verifier and explain this process. The Walkley Awards will only contact verifiers if there is an issue with your entry.
When are finalists announced?
Finalists of the Business Journalism category will be announced on Tuesday, 8 October, 2024.
Finalists in other categories will be announced on Thursday, 10 October, 2024, along with the Walkley Book Award longlist.
The Walkley Book Award shortlist is announced Thursday, 7 November, 2024.
How will I know if I’m a finalist?
The Walkley Foundation will email you or your group or team’s nominated contact to tell you the good news. There will also be a digital announcement on Thursday, 10 October, 2024.
When are winners announced?
Winners are announced at the 68th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism gala dinner in Sydney on Tuesday, 19 November, 2024.
Will I be able to go to the Walkley Awards?
If you are a finalist, the Foundation will liaise with you about tickets for the gala event.
Do you have any more advice?
It is recommended that entrants carefully read the Walkley Awards Terms & Conditions and Categories Explained before starting their submission.