Radio journalists, especially from the ABC and 2UE, feature strongly as contenders for this year’s Walkley Awards for excellence in journalism.
ABC Radio entries account for seven of the nine finalists in the news, current affairs and documentary categories, while 2UE breakfast host, Mike Carlton, can stand tall as a finalist in the non-radio specific category of ‘Broadcast Interviewing’.
Each year, more than 1000 entries are submitted in the prestigious Walkley Awards, which are the culmination of a year long process. More than 30 awards are presented annually encompassing radio, tv, newspaper, magazine and photographic journalism, including the coveted Gold Walkley.
The process begins each year with the formation of 17 judging panels, comprising 50 distinguished judges.
In the RADIO NEWS REPORTING category, the finalists are:
* Alison Carabine, 2UE, ‘Canberra Coup: Labor turns on Simon Crean’
* Peter Cave, ABC, ‘Iraq Hostage’
* Kylie Simmonds, 2UE, ‘Doyalson Fire’
(Steve Speziale, News Director, 4BC & 4BH, and Assistant Program Director, 4BC, was one of the judges.)
RADIO CURRENT AFFAIRS’ REPORTING:
* David Hardaker, PM and AM, ABC, ‘David Flint: Going, going … gone’
* Rafael Epstein and Nick McKenzie, PM and AM, ‘Police Corruption’
* Mark Willacy, AM, ‘Martyrs for the Cause’
RADIO FEATURE, DOCUMENTARY OR BROADCAST SPECIAL:
* Phillip Adams, Chris Bullock, Mary Louise O’Callaghan and Paul Gough ,Late Night Live, Radio National, ‘Solomon Islands Series’
* Nick Franklin, Mayu Kanamori, Tom Fitzgerald and Adrei Shabunov, Radio National, ‘Chika’
* Stephen Skinner, ‘Background Briefing’, Radio National, ‘Bulldozers, Trees and Making a Quid’
* Commended: Eugenia Moraitis and Bulent Ibrisim, SBS Radio, ‘Reaching Through the Divide’
(2UE drive presenter, John Stanley, was on the judging panel.)
BROADCAST INTERVIEWING FINALISTS:
* Mike Carlton, 2UE, ‘Three Talking Heads’
* Mark Davis, Dateline, SBS TV, ‘Ruddock/Musharraf/Mahathir’
* Tony Jones, Lateline, ABC TV, ‘Lateline Interviews’
The Walkley Award winners will be announced on Thursday 2 December at Melbourne’s Crown Casino and telecast later on SBS.
Tickets can be bought, but there is a wait list system. Call (02) 9333 0917.