Patrick Smith is an Australian sports journalist and

Walkley award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

recipient. He is noted for his pieces in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' newspapers' sports section. Smith started his journalism career in 1972 with Melbourne's Sun as a copyboy, before moving to ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' in 1976. There he was promoted from sport sub to deputy sports editor, and then to sports editor which he remained for six years. In 1993 he was a senior columnist for ''The Age,'' leaving for ''The Australian'' in 2000. He also appears on ''

Hungry for Sport Hunger is a sensation that motivates the consumption of food. The sensation of hunger typically manifests after only a few hours without eating and is generally considered to be unpleasant. Satiety occurs between 5 and 20 minutes after eating. T ...

'' with Kevin Bartlett on

SEN 1116 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the stat ...

. Kevin Bartlett has not been on SEN for over a year and Smith no longer contributes to that station. He writes pieces on political issues in sport, including the internal workings of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...

. He won Walkley awards for his commentary and analysis of sport in 1997, 2002 and 2004 In 2017 Smith controversially wrote “Hird, sadly, drove himself to the intensive care unit, calling the directions all the way.” following James Hird's attempt to take his own life. In 2001 and 2002 Smith won "Most Outstanding Columnist" at the AFL Media Awards. In 2009 he was awarded a High Commendation in the competition for the

Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award The Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award, often known simply as the Graham Perkin Award, is one of Australia's pre-eminent prizes for journalism. It was established and named in honour of Graham Perkin, who was editor of ''The ...

. Smith was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to the print media as a journalist". Smith falsely accused Legendary commentator Bruce McAvaney of a poor call of the 10000m men’s race at the 2021 Japan Olympics, only to be criticised for publishing a poor form tweet and being unprofessional.

References

Australian sports journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{australia-journalist-stub Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia