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‘Banking bad’ story wins Gold Walkley for Fairfax and Four Corners
EXTRA >> WHEN Fairfax Media’s Adele Ferguson and the Four Corners team of Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou teamed up to thoroughly cover unconscionable banking practices among Australia’s big banks, they knew they had a vital story on their hands. Little did they know that story would also deliver the coveted Gold Walkley Award for journalism.
The trio won Australian journalism’s top honour and were cite for their “meticulous and courageous work” in uncovering banking practices that had cost families, in many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars in poorly-advised and heavily leveraged investments.
‘Banking Bad’ was the culmination of two years of vigorous investigation by Ms Ferguson, who this year took her investigation to a wider audience with the compelling Four Corners report. Her research exposed the impact of highly risky advice on the individuals who trusted their financial affairs to the Commonwealth Bank, and also uncovered the failure of corporate regulator ASIC to respond to the concerns of whistle blowers inside the nation’s largest financial institution. 
The Walkley judges said, “Financial stories aren’t traditionally photogenic, but the team has elevated business journalism by capturing the human side and through dogged investigation.”
Taking out the Walkley for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, imprisoned Al Jazeera reporter Peter Greste was recognised for his brave ongoing fight in Egypt – and not only for his personal freedom, but also for a free press and an open democracy in the most difficult of circumstances.
The Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year Award went to Andrew Quilty for a compelling and moving portfolio of local and international photojournalism. Mr Quilty also took out Nikon-Walkley Photo of the Year.
The West Australian’s editor-in-chief, Bob Cronin, was awarded the Walkley Award for Journalism Leadership for the outspoken and uncompromising leadership that has marked his 54-year career. He was praised by peers for his unflinching loyalty to his staff when standing up to mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.
The 59th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 34 categories. More than 800 journalists and media identities gathered at Sydney’s Dockside Pavilion for the 2014 event, hosted the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson.
GOLD WALKLEY
Adele Ferguson, Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou, Four Corners, ABC TV and Fairfax Media, “Banking bad”
LEADERSHIP
Bob Cronin, West Australian
MOST OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Peter Greste
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Andrew Quilty, Oculi
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Paul Maley and Greg Bearup, The Australian, “That’s my boy: kids witness war’s horror”, “Plotter’s nephew in Syrian combat”, “Aussie fighters leading extremist PR: ASIO”
ALL MEDIA SOCIAL EQUITY JOURNALISM
Belinda Hawkins, Australian Story, ABC TV, “Searching for C11 Part One and Two”, “Breaking the Code”
ALL MEDIA MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING
SBS Online Team, SBS Online, “Cronulla Riots – The day that shocked the nation”
NIKON-WALKLEY PHOTO OF THE YEAR
Andrew Quilty, TIME LightBox, “Baby burns victim in Boost Hospital”
ALL MEDIA HEADLINE JOURNALISM
Paul Whittaker, The Daily Telegraph, “Cardinal spin”, “The Grapes of Bof”, “Palmersnorus”
ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Paul Daley, Guardian Australia, “Why does the Australian War Memorial ignore frontier war?”, “The bone collectors “Indigenous Australians in wartime”
ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Ben Smee, NT News, “Chasing the circus: a year of chaos and scandal in Territory politics”
ALL MEDIA SPORTS JOURNALISM
Robert Dillon, Newcastle Herald, ““Bye Bye Boganaire”
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
Cameron Spencer, Getty Images, “H20 Action”
RADIO NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS JOURNALISM
Hayden Cooper, ABC Radio, “Journalism on trial”
RADIO DOCUMENTARY, FEATURE, PODCAST OR SPECIAL
Sarah Dingle, AM and Background Briefing, ABC Radio, “The Salvos: A matter of trust”
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
Paul Toohey, Quarterly Essay 53, “That Sinking Feeling: Asylum seekers and the search for the Indonesian solution”
ALL MEDIA SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Michael Brissenden, Ewen MacAskill and Lenore Taylor, ABC News and Guardian Australia, “Australia’s spy agencies targeted Indonesian president’s mobile phone”
ALL MEDIA CARTOON
Ron Tandberg, The Age, “Joe’s budget”
ALL MEDIA ARTWORK
Eric Lobbecke, The Australian, “Chopper Hockey”
ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Matt Brown, Hayden Cooper, Aaron Hollett, Stuart Watt, Michael Carey and ABC News Team, ABC News Digital, ABC TV News and ABC Radio “Gaza Conflict”
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Ruth Pollard, Fairfax Media, “If this happened in Europe, the world would not be silent”
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
Brendan Beirne, News Corp Australia, “Bondi Biffo”
ALL MEDIA BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Nabila Ahmed, Sue Mitchell and James Chessell, The Australian Financial Review, “Myer, DJs Merger proposed just before directors’ trade”, “DJs chairman must step down”, “Mason to purge DJs board”
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Eddie Jim, The Age, “Hayden”
ALL MEDIA INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM
Lindsay Murdoch, The Age, “Baby Gammy was left behind”
ALL MEDIA CAMERAWORK
Wayne McAllister, ABC News and Foreign Correspondent, ABC TV, “Laksi violent protest”, “Spratley Islands: reef madness” “Ukraine Crash Site Fight”
TV/AV NEWS REPORTING
Matt Brown and Mark Solomons, ABC News, “Syria death”, “Jihad middleman”, “Bomber video”
TV/AV DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Sam Clark, 7.30, ABC TV, “State of the union”, “Jobs for the boys”
TV/AV WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS
Adele Ferguson, Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou, Four Corners, ABC TV and Fairfax Media, “Banking bad”
ALL MEDIA INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
John Lyons, Janine Cohen, Sylvie Le Clezio and Mary Fallon, Four Corners, ABC TV, and The Australian, “Stone cold justice”
ALL MEDIA INTERVIEW
David Speers, Sky News,“What is metadata?”
ALL MEDIA COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Waleed Aly, Fairfax Media, “Brandis race hate laws are whiter than white”, “The logic of PNG policy is sanctioned horror”, “Deciding which deaths matter and which don’t”
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Dan Goldberg and Danny Ben-Moshe, Mint Pictures & Identity Films/ABC TV, Code of Silence
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD
Paul Kelly, Triumph and Demise: The Broken Promise of a Labor Generation, Melbourne University Press
2014 WALKLEY AWARDS BOARD JUDGES
Quentin Dempster, presenter 30 NSW, ABC TV (Chair)
Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO, Australian News Channel
Michael Beach, deputy editor, The West Australian
Marina Go, general manager, Hearst Bauer Media Brands
Anne Davies, senior reporter, The Sydney Morning Herald
Narelle Hooper, editor, AFR BOSS Magazine
Liz Jackson, reporter, ABC
James Kirby, managing editor, Eureka Report
Nick Moir, photographer, The Sydney Morning Herald
John Stanley, weekend breakfast presenter, Radio 2UE
Dennis Atkins, national affairs editor, The Courier Mail
ENDS
