The story behind the Herald’s award-winning investigations

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It is journalism’s night of nights, when the best practitioners of our craft assemble in gleaming gowns and tuxedos at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour to compete for the honour of winning a Walkley Award.

The prizes recognise extraordinary journalism that has had an impact on society, exposed corruption and wrongdoing, and helped change attitudes and rules to make for a better society.

This year, two series of stories I am particularly proud of won prizes for the Herald in their respective categories.

Medical Misogyny was the name of a series that uncovered hundreds of disturbing cases where women said they had been disbelieved, misdiagnosed or wrongly admitted to hospital, leading to serious disease and even death.

Herald health editor Kate Aubusson, reporter Emily Kaine and Age investigative reporter Aisha Dow won the specialist beat reporting category for this investigation, which was a great example of how the Herald and The Age can work together to produce extraordinary stories. This series, which also involved Herald investigative reporter Carrie Fellner and The Age’s Charlotte Grieve and Wendy Tuohy, has led to regulatory change and review across Australia.

I was at the meeting when this series was first proposed, and it was immediately apparent that this was a powerful issue that would have an impact on millions of Australians. When we asked readers to tell us their stories, we were swamped with many heartbreaking personal tales – and these inspired us to put this important issue on the agenda.

It has been a dream to work with this team who, as well as being great journalists, are just such lovely people.

The Herald’s health editor Kate Aubusson, reporter Emily Kaine and Age investigative reporter Aisha Dow.

Another big triumph for the Herald last night was investigative reporter Eryk Bagshaw, crime reporter Clare Sibthorpe and Good Food’s Bianca Hrovat winning the news report category for their series of exposés of hospitality giants such as Merivale, Swillhouse and Icebergs Dining Room and Bar over many months.

This series was meticulously researched, with each of the reporters speaking to multiple sources to make sure what they were told was solidly backed up. The truth is that long-standing abuse of female staff was an open secret in the industry, but the Herald was the first media organisation to have the courage to make it public.

Our investigation resulted in the resignations of high-profile hospitality figures and regulatory reforms that will hopefully lead to better protections for all workers. I’ve worked with Eryk on a couple of his investigations now, and he has quickly established himself as a rising talent with an infectious enthusiasm for his work.

The Herald’s investigative reporter Eryk Bagshaw, Good Food’s Bianca Hrovat and crime reporter Clare Sibthorpe

Melissa Fyfe won the feature writing short category for her Good Weekend story exposing the menace of forced marriage in Australia, while Badiucao, Matthew Absalom-Wong, Patrick O’Neil and Tom McKendrick were honoured for The Age’s “Watch, followed, threatened. Now an impostor is claiming to be me”.

The Age also won the Walkley Award for coverage of a major news event or issue for its months of dedicated and insightful reporting on the trial of triple-murderer Erin Patterson.

Staff from The Age and the Herald were nominated a total of 15 times across 12 of 30 categories spanning news, photography, feature writing and long-form television journalism.

The highest honour, the Gold Walkley, was awarded to the ABC’s Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett for their investigation into systemic failures in the Australian childcare system. The pair won three Walkley categories, and were very worthy winners of the big prize. You could hear the emotion in Adele’s voice during her acceptance speech as she described the harrowing stories she had uncovered during the year.

In other big news at the Herald this week, Jordan Baker was announced as our new editor after Bevan Shields stepped down after four years at the helm.

Chief reporter Jordan Baker is the new editor of the Herald.

Bevan has championed quality journalism, expanded our investigative team, overseen the opening of the Herald’s Parramatta bureau and campaigned for reforms of laws around pokies.

I’ve worked closely with Jordan in her role as chief reporter and am a huge fan of her work. Her journalism has consistently given readers an insight into how Sydney works, and she has not shied away from tackling tricky subjects and holding powerful people to account. She addressed the newsroom yesterday and gave a rousing speech about her vision to encourage the entire team to continue to produce outstanding work.

Jordan will take up the reins in the new year. In the interim, my fellow deputy Nick Ralston and I will steer the ship. I’d love to get your feedback, so feel free to drop me a line.

Have a great weekend.

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