The Kennedy Awards, also known as the NRMA Kennedy Awards, are Australian awards for
journalism based in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales, run by the Kennedy Foundation, and named in honour of
Indigenous Australian journalist Les Kennedy, who died in 2011. there are 34 categories in the annual event, with the main prize being The Kennedy Prize – Journalist of the Year, while a Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded each year as well.
History
Commencing in 2012, named in honour of Indigenous journalist Les Kennedy
[ (1958–2011) in the year after his death, the intention was to stage an event in NSW equivalent to journalism awards in other states and territories. However the Kennedy Awards quickly grew to being a national event. The Kennedy Foundation was created as a charitable organisation on 7 March 2014 in order to attract funds for the awards and other endeavours, including providing scholarships for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander journalists.][
The awards have been run annually without interruption since 2012.][
In 2021–2022 the Kennedy Foundation entered a sponsorship deal with an organisation calling itself the Australian Journalists Association, which was exposed as a front for an organisation of dubious integrity, the Journalists First Inc., a small group of conservative political operatives based in Queensland which spread anti-vaccination and other controversial information. The foundation ceased its association with this organisation in May 2022.
]
Kennedy Foundation
The foundation is a strong advocate for cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
and gender diversity in media. the foundation is chaired by accountant Carl Dumbrell;[
]
Awards
The awards take place in Sydney.[ The main prize is Journalist of the Year (won by women in seven out of the nine events after 2012). Five of its awards are named after outstanding journalists, in several categories: Sport (]Peter Frilingos
Peter Frilingos (1944–2004) was a sports journalist and commentator, best known for his work as a rugby league writer.
His reporting methods and integrity came under severe scrutiny during the Super League war. While he originally supported ...
); Indigenous Affairs (John Newfong
John Newfong (3 November 1943 – 30 May 1999) is an Aboriginal Australian journalist and writer. A descendant of the Ngugi people of Moreton Bay, he was the first Aboriginal person to be employed as a journalist in the Mass media in Australi ...
); Outstanding Columnist (Peter Ruehl
Vincent Peter Ruehl (29 March 1947 – 11 April 2011), known as Peter Ruehl, was an American-born Australian newspaper columnist, best known for the humorous column he wrote thrice weekly for '' The Australian Financial Review'', in which he offer ...
); Les Kennedy (Outstanding Crime Reporting) and Outstanding Foreign Correspondent (Tom Krause
Tom Gunnar Krause (5 July 1934 − 6 December 2013) was a Finnish operatic bass-baritone, particularly associated with Mozart roles.
Early life
Born in Helsinki, Tom Krause studied medicine for three years with the intention of becoming a psyc ...
).[
]
Past winners
;The Kennedy Prize – Journalist of the Year:
*2012: Kate McClymont
Kathryn Anne McClymont is a journalist who writes for ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Notable for exposing corruption in politics, trade unions, sport, and horse racing, she has received death threats because of her exposés. She has won many ...
, '' The Sydney Morning Herald''[
*2013: ]Joanne McCarthy Joanne McCarthy may refer to:
*Joanne McCarthy (basketball), an American basketball player
*Joanne McCarthy (journalist), an Australian journalist
See also
*Joanne McCartney
Joanne McCartney is a British barrister and Labour Party and Co-op ...
, ''Newcastle Herald
The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...
''[
*2014: ]Adele Ferguson
Adele Ferguson is an Australian investigative journalist, best known for her series of exposés of malfeasance in the franchising, aged care, and financial services sectors in Australia which have resulted in major inquiries including the Hayn ...
, Fairfax Media, ABC TV[
*2015: ]Caro Meldrum-Hanna
Caro Meldrum-Hanna is an Australian investigative journalist.
Meldrum-Hanna is best known for her work with ABC Television's ''Four Corners'' program.
Among Meldrum-Hanna's stories on ''Four Corners'', two notable reports are an investigation i ...
, ''Four Corners
The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
'', ABC TV[
*2016: Adele Ferguson][
*2017: ]Chris O'Keefe
Chris O'Keefe (born 4 July 1981) is an Australian journalist.
He is best known for his work with Nine Entertainment, as a reporter for '' Nine News'', and as a presenter for Nine Radio's Sydney station 2GB.
Career
O'Keefe began his career in ...
, ''Nine News
''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...
''[
*2018: ]Sharri Markson
Sharri Markson (born 1984) is an Australian journalist and author. She is investigations editor at ''The Australian'' and host of the Sky News Australia program ''Sharri'', which airs on Sunday evenings. She is the winner of numerous awards in j ...
, '' The Daily Telegraph''[
*2019: Anne Connolly, ''Four Corners'', '' 7:30'', ABC TV][
*2020: Nick McKenzie, of '']60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'', '' The Age'', '' The Sydney Morning Herald''[
*2021: ]Samantha Maiden
Samantha Louise Maiden is an Australian political journalist. She is currently political editor for news.com.au, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.
Early life and education
Maiden was born in Adelaide.
As a student at Adelaide University ...
, of news.com.au
news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport.
Staff
The organiza ...
[
*2022: Nick McKenzie]Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
, '' Ten News''[
*2014: Philip Cornford][
*2015: ]Ian Heads
Ian John Heads OAM (born 15 February 1943) is an Australian historian, journalist, commentator and author. He is described as "Australia's foremost rugby league historian" by the National Museum of Australia.
In the reconst ...
[
*2016: ]John Smith
John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to:
People
:''In chronological ...
, '' The Daily Telegraph''[
*2017: Ita Buttrose][
*2018: Jana Wendt][
*2020: John Hartigan][
*2021: John Laws
*2022: Bruce McAvaney , of Seven Network]
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Australian journalism awards
2012 establishments in Australia
2014 establishments in Australia