Photo: Nick Moir, “Run”, from “Firestorm”
Great journalism holds the powerful to account, changes lives and strengthens Australia’s democracy. The annual Walkley Awards recognise the year’s most impactful and courageous journalism – the stories that define Australia and our history.
Walkeys Live: The Journalist Gene is a series of eight one-hour biographical portraits of eight Walkley Award-winning or recognised journalists, exploring the national and international context in which their award-winning work took place; the influences and personal inspirations for their approach; and the professional drive, courage and values that sustain their work.
Venue
Town Hall, Sydney
Dates
Thursday January 21, 12pm: Nick Moir & Sylvia Liber: Triggered – Photojournalism in Natural Disasters. Tickets here.
Hear what it was like on the ground photographing the unprecedented firestorms and eucalyptus explosions that marked the summer of 2019/20 – conditions so extreme that camera parts started melting – and the stories of Australians in the aftermath of the bushfires’ destruction.
Thursday January 21, 6pm: Lorena Allam & Laura Murphy-Oates: The Killing Times. Tickets here.
“The Killing Times”, a Guardian Australia project tracking the under- or unreported massacres of First Nations Australians across the country, won Lorena Allam and team, including podcast host Laura Murphy-Oates, the 2019 Walkley Award for Coverage of Indigenous Affairs. Join Allam and Murphy-Oates in conversation with host Jan Fran.
Friday January 22, 12pm: Patrick Abboud: ‘Doing’ Diversity – Out & Proud. Tickets here.
Patrick Abboud has built a reputation for ‘doing diversity’ right. In conversation with Benjamin Law, Abboud unpacks his reporting from within subcultures, while sharing his more personal. Plus, a first look at his new queer true crime show.
Friday January 22, 6pm: Kate McClymont: Digging Up the Underbelly of Sydney’s Upper Echelon. Tickets here. SOLD OUT – WAITLIST AVAILABLE
Seven-time Walkley Award-winner Kate McClymont is joined by host Jan Fran to discuss the countless exclusives she has broken over her career, including her investigations of Eddie Obeid’s corrupt dealings, the Don Burke story, the “Dirty Dyson” affair, and the NRL Bulldogs salary cap scandal.
Saturday January 23, 12pm: Chris Reason: Terror on the Ground – Lindt Café Siege. Tickets here.
2015 Walkley Award-winner Chris Reason discusses his at-the-scene, 24-hour coverage of the Lindt Café siege, and what it’s like to cover major breaking news from the hot seat in front of the camera.
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 BORDER RESTRICTIONS:
Saturday January 23, 6pm: Mahmood Fazal: “No Gangsters in Paradise”. Tickets here.
Mahmood Fazal, the creator of the Audible Original podcast “No Gangsters in Paradise”, is joined by host Jan Fran to discuss racialised mainstream reporting on young Middle Eastern men and the Islamic community, and his power as an Afghan-Australian writer to challenge those narratives.
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 BORDER RESTRICTIONS:
Sunday January 24, 6pm: 2020 Gold Walkley-winner Mark Willacy interviewed by Chris Masters.
Mark Willacy is in conversation with veteran Afghanistan reporter Chris Masters, discussing Willacy’s award-winning “Killing Field”, which brought to light alleged war crimes by Australia’s SAS in Afghanistan with helmet camera footage and powerful first person testimony.