2024 All Media: Coverage of a Major News Event or Issue

Chris Reason and Simon Hydzik brought the Israel-Hamas war into Australian living rooms. Their submission opens with the crew coming under rocket attack mid-way through a live cross. As they run for shelter, Iron Dome missiles are heard intercepting the Hamas rockets above. Amid the chaos, Hydzik had the skill to position the camera perfectly, and Reason delivered a calm and measured piece to camera.

Reason and Hydzik also got the first on-camera interview with Australians trapped inside Gaza, and Reason was the only Australian journalist to question Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

They got a then exclusive with former PM Ehud Barak and another then exclusive with Hamas leader Osama Hamdan. They were the only Australian media to access Israel’s national morgue.

Reason and Hydzik worked constantly to provide context and depth getting embedded with Israeli soldiers in training; engaging with Palestinian teenagers battling deadly street fights in the West Bank  visiting a West Bank gun shop as weapons sales soared; and taking us inside an Israeli apartment to explain life with a safe room.

Seven News chief reporter Chris Reason and senior cameraman Simon Hydzik have worked on multiple national and international assignments together, including their Walkley-winning coverage of the Ukraine war in 2022. The pair paid tribute to journalists Ibrahim Hazboun in Israel and Abed AlSalaam in Gaza for helping their coverage, along with driver Golan Kwiat and security providers Liam Ryan and Ross Milosevic.