The short list for the inaugural Central News Media Prize for the best piece of journalism in Australia across all formats is in.
The Prize is judged by journalism students at UTS, who have sorted through dozens of stories, videos and podcasts nominated over the previous year.
Nominees
Julia Bergin and Damien Williams, ‘Feeding insecurity’ (Crikey & ICTV)
Bergin and Williams’ four-part series looking into cost of living pressures on food and health in remote Indigenous communities was an eye-opener, revealing inflated prices well beyond urban Australia. The series showed how food insecurity and the reliance on limited organisations, can be used as a mechanism of power, by the government and the Commonwealth companies it oversees. The series was applauded for the thoroughness of the research that also combined rich descriptions of communities and individuals.
Harriet Tatham, Catherine Hanrahan, Jack Fischer, Katie Shatoba and Julia Feder, ‘Razed, inside the Surry Hills building fire’ (ABC)
The standard of production in this parallax scrolling article stood out to the students who nominated it as above and beyond the usual level of media technical excellence, combining 3D animation with firsthand accounts, citizen and professional footage from the scene and thoroughly researched historical context and archival photos. Seamlessly weaving together information and engagement, it transcended mere news reporting, becoming a powerful social artefact that showcases the power of storytelling in building impactful narratives.
Jordie van den Berg, ‘Rental crisis’ (Independent)
Van den Berg has used TikTok, the most popular social media format among young people, to tap into that demographic, and shows how non-traditional reporting can reach new audiences and influence and change perceptions around a topic. Students found his reports engaging and more relevant than news on the property crisis they were reading in mainstream publications, which often followed his stories.
Joe Aston, ‘Qantas’ comeuppance’ (The Australian Financial Review)
Aston pulled Australia’s ‘favourite’ airline off its pedestal, galvanising criticism of Qantas over a long series of columns, that ripped into the national carrier for its plans to take hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pandemic flight credits off customers, selling flights that didn’t exist, illegally sacking baggage handlers, lobbying for favourable treatment by the government, abusing airport slot rules, gouging customers and overpaying its executives. His regular revelations and pointed analysis about the company’s ethics and accountability was arguably the main reason for the early retirement of the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, and also shamed the prime minister and other politicians over their cosy use of airline perks.
Stephanie March, Eric Campbell, Aaron Hollett, Leah Donovan, Andrew Cooke and Morag Ramsay, ‘Before the War’, (ABC Foreign Correspondent)
Amid a very one-sided narrative in the media of the current Gaza conflict, this report from the occupied West Bank, filmed in the weeks before Hamas’ attack and broadcast in the week following it, stands out as one of the few pieces of Australian journalism that has attempted to show an objective picture of the situation prior to October 7. It gives valuable contextualisation, through multiple voices, reactions, and insights into the complex dynamics of the peace around the conflict.
Judges
Pamela Rontziokis, winner of the Crikey Award for Investigative Journalism, JERAA Ossie Awards 2023
Suhayla Sharif, winner of the Alan Knight Award for Student Journalist of the Year at the 2023 NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards.
Jonathan Weitz-Freeman, winner of the Democracy’s Watchdogs Award 2023 for Investigative Journalism.
What’s next?
The award will be presented to the winning reporter or reporters at a ceremony on March 20, 2024, alongside student awards for work published in 2023 on Central News.
For further enquiries email Media Prize editors Rex Siu on Rex.Siu@student.uts.edu.au or Ayesha Baig on ayesha.baig-1@student.uts.edu.au