Aaron Kearney is the 2011 Northern NSW Journalism Awards Journalist of the Year. The multi-skilled ABC journalist took out the major honour alongside the awards for Best Print Feature Writing (Maitland Mercury), Best Specialty Journalism (The Drum/ The Roar), and Best Radio Current Affairs Reporting, Feature or Special (ABC).
The judges said: “Aaron Kearney is a deserving winner of this award: he has demonstrated considerable talent, extending across media with apparent fearlessness and aptitude. [He] writes with style and verve, shares an intrinsic sense of sentiment and nuance, and challenges modern ideology.”
Other major winners were Ray Dinneen, who took out the award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, and Ava Benny-Morrison from The Northern Star, who picked up the Tom Barrass Award for regional journalism. Giselle Wakatama continued the multi-skilled tradition, landing the awards for Best Investigative Journalism, Best Radio News Report and Best Television Current Affairs or Feature.
Sam Rigney won the PF Adams Young Journalist of the Year Award. The judges said: Sam demonstrated journalistic ability beyond his years in breaking the story of a potential salary cap breach at rugby league club the, Maitland Pickers.
Winners were announced at a 70s-themed dinner at the Sebel Hotel, Newcastle Beach on Saturday, July 23.
Media Alliance federal secretary, Christopher Warren, said: “Regional journalists perform a crucial public service – they are the people who keep their communities informed. They are a vital lifeline for many, and show extraordinary tenacity and versatility, crafting some of the finest journalism we have in this country.”
Federal Media Section President Pete Lewis congratulated this year’s PRODI winners and said their body of work was proof that the Northern NSW region continues to produce outstanding journalists .
He said it was a privilege to help celebrate their commitment to excellence , integrity and ethics at a time when journalism itself is facing scrutiny for just how free and fairly it operates .
It is 32 years since he won the PF Adams Young Journalist/ Cadet Award at the Prodis .
The Northern NSW Journalism Awards are held every year in draw their nickname – the Prodis – from the “Provincial District” of the Australian Journalists’ Association (now the Media Alliance). The region stretches from the Hawkesbury to the Queensland border, and to the Northwest of the state.
Category winners are as follows:
- 2011 Journalist of the Year: Aaron Kearney (ABC)
- Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism: Ray Dinneen
- PF Adams Young Journalist of the Year Award:
Sam Rigney (Maitland Mercury)
- The Tom Barrass Award: Ava Benny-Morrison (The Northern Star)
- Best Print News Report: James Gardiner (Newcastle Herald), Battle for the Kingdom
- Best Print Feature Writing: Aaron Kearney (The Maitland Mercury), The Fight of Your Life
- Best Print Journalist: James Gardiner (Newcastle Herald)
- Best News Photography: Cath Bowen (The Maitland Mercury), Steph's Fatal Error
- Best Sports Photography: Troy Snook (Cumberland Courier Newspapers), Heroes and Heartache
- Best Feature Photography: Troy Snook (Cumberland Courier Newspapers), Alligator Egg Nest Raid
- Best Photographer: Troy Snook (Cumberland Courier Newspapers)
- Best Television News Report: Paul Lobb (NBN Television), Newcastle Airshow Feature
- Best Television Current Affairs or Feature: Giselle Wakatama (1233 ABC Newcastle), Boil Over
- Best Television Journalist: Paul Lobb (NBN Television)
- Best Radio News Report: Giselle Wakatama (1233 ABC Newcastle), Anglican Scandal
- Best Radio Current Affairs Reporting, Feature or Special: Aaron Kearney (ABC), When Everything Changes in an Instant – Andrew’s Journey
- Best Radio Journalist: Aaron Kearney (ABC)
- Best Sports Journalism: Sam Rigney (Fairfax Media), United Front
- Best Specialty Journalism: Aaron Kearney (The Drum/ The Roar), for his opinion writing
- Best Investigative Journalism: Giselle Wakatama (1233 ABC Newcastle), Horror Limbs
- Best Use of the Medium: Anthony Scully (ABC), ABC Open Series on Rural Life in the Hunter
- Best Editorial Artist or Cartoonist: David Coleman (Newcastle Newspapers), The White Knight
For more information call Anna Magnus on 0423 363 725
