Three radio winners at Walkley Awards

ABC Radio PM reporter Stephen Long has won the Walkley Award for Radio News and Current Affairs Reporting for his report A Super Scandal. Other radio winners at the Walkleys, announced tonight, are SBS Radio’s Kristina Kukolja for her World View report Echoes of Srebrenica. ABC Radio National, 360 documentaries producer John Blades won the All Media: Social Equity Journalism category with a doco titled The too hard basket.

 

Laurie Oakes won the Gold walkley for his Labor Leaks reportage on the Nine Network, and Kerry O’Brien was presented with a Journalism Leadership Walkley for his 40 years of contributions to journalism.

 

The citations for the radio winners are as follows:

 

Stephen Long

Paul Keating called it his greatest reform for workers: a system to ensure that all Australians had security and dignity in retirement. Stephen Long’s report revealed that returns from Australia’s retirement savings system are shockingly low: net of all fees, charges and costs, just 3 per cent a year over a dozen years. Not satisfied with the claims by the industry and its paid consultants, Long undertook his own independent analysis of statistics compiled by the prudential regulator. His premise was that to assess the health of the system, you have to look at returns system-wide. The investigation showed a sick system. Long showed the courage to take on a powerful industry, move beyond its rhetoric and, through original research, highlight its failings.

Judges’ comments

Stephen Long’s stories for PM on the shortcomings of the current superannuation system were the result of solid, investigative research and analysis that showed how the returns from Australia’s retirement savings were shockingly low. He revealed that the real winners from compulsory super were those charging the fees to run it.

Listen to “Long term returns not so super

 

Kristina Kukolja

Anita Barraud went beyond the beaten track for this extensive primer on Indonesia’s transition to democracy after more than 30 years of dictatorship under military strongman Soeharto. She spoke to politicians, artists, analysts and activists not only in the cities, but in remote regions of West Timor and Aceh.

Her exploration of such complex issues as decentralisation, corruption, and Muslim identity after the Bali and Jakarta bombings was anchored with excellent radio production techniques including natural sound and descriptive writing. In a co-production with the BBC World Service, journalist/producer Barraud worked with support from BBC producer Neil Trevithick.

Judges’ comments

An outstanding use of the medium. The extensive use of natural sound, compiled with Anita’s skill in painting word pictures, gave the program a rich texture. She took on a number of guiding roles to tell the story – a history teacher, a tour guide, a political analyst. She delivered a very well-informed program. Her programs reflected the immense diversity of Indonesian culture and politics in the lead-up to the elections.

Listen to “Echoes of Srebrenica”

 

John Blades

Disabled people are rarely touched in a loving way or thought of as sexually desirable, yet they have the same need for a sex life as everyone else. This is the oddly confronting subject explored in “The too hard basket” by John Blades, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1982 and who cannot move his body from the neck down. In the documentary, Blades tells his own story of his loss of independence, depression and decades of celibacy – and then of how he read about a sex worker who specialises in disabled clients.

Judges’ comments

Remarkable journalism that tells us an enormous amount about a subject that is usually disregarded, even taboo in mainstream media, and tells us the story from the inside, with sensitivity and unblinking honesty.

Listen to “The Too Hard Basket

 

 

For the full winners list, click the link below.