Daryna Zadvirna, formerly of The West Australian newspaper and now a cross platform reporter at ABC Perth, is the 2023 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year.
She won for her documentary reporting from Ukraine’s warzone, published by The West Australian and on YouTube. She also won the categories for Visual Storytelling and Longform reporting.
The Walkley Judging Board, represented by Rashell Habib, Kate Kyriacou and Michael Brissenden, said the finalists were all of such high quality this year, yet the judges could not go past Daryna’s entry, saying it’s a story that imprints on you.
She bought a camera, hopped on a plane and went into the Ukrainian warzone on her own accord.
Her background was in print yet she beautifully captured on film what the Russian invasion was like for Ukrainian locals.
The Walkley Foundation announced all the winners in the 2023 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism.
Walkley Foundation CEO Shona Martyn said the quality of entries was particularly high this year.
“Excellence is all-important as we recognise that the media world is under threat on many fronts – from the financial challenges facing news organisations across the globe to changing consumer behaviour and scepticism about 'fake news', the rise of misinformation and disinformation, and the arrival of AI technologies such as ChatGPT. Awards like these are a sign of hope," she said.
The winners:
2023 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year
Supported by Jibb Foundation
- Daryna Zadvirna, The West Australian, YouTube “My Ukraine: Inside the Warzone”
Thanks to the Jibb Foundation’s support, Daryna will receive a two-week international trip to newsrooms (flights included) and a mentorship program to boost their career.
Shortform journalism
Supported by ABC
- Fleur Connick, Guardian Australia, “Rural water quality investigations” (‘EPA’s water testing after Menindee fish kill was flawed and insufficient, expert says’; ‘“Smells like sewage”: blackwater from Victorian floods causes mass fish deaths’; ‘Second mass fish death in Menindee in two weeks prompts calls for water quality monitoring’)
Longform feature or special
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Daryna Zadvirna, The West Australian, YouTube “My Ukraine: Inside the Warzone”
Coverage of community and regional affairs
- Xanthe Gregory, ABC 7.30 and ABC News, “The Eugowra flood disaster”
Visual storytelling
Supported by News Corp Australia
- Daryna Zadvirna, The West Australian, YouTube, “My Ukraine: Inside the Warzone”
Public service journalism
Supported by Telum Media
- Brooke Fryer, SBS, “Vanished: The unsolved cases of First Nations women”
Student journalist of the year
Supported by University of Sydney
- Grace Baldwin, Monash University / Herald Sun, “Bailey Smith’s first interview: ‘I went days without getting out of bed’”; “Sinister cult recruiters targeting people at Melbourne landmarks”; “Nazi lark has no excuse”
June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting
Supported by MEAA
- Max Mason, The Australian Financial Review, “Top accounting firm sacked woman who alleged sexual assault” (“Top accounting firm sacked woman who alleged sexual assault”; “Woman told by iCare her sexual assault allegation was ‘implausible’”; “Accounting firm settles with woman sacked after alleging sexual assault”)
June Andrews Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year
Supported by Media Super and MEAA
- Patrick Abboud, Audible Podcasts, SBS Television / SBS OnDemand, The Project / Network 10, “Patrick Abboud” (“The Greatest Menace”, “Kids Raising Kids”, “Family Turns Tragedy Into Miracle For Other Families”)
June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media
- Sherele Moody, NT News and other News Corp outlets, “She Matters: Telling the stories of women lost to violence” (“He shot her three times. No one heard. No one came to help”; “A court gave him freedom – 94 days later he killed a mother and her baby”; “She matters: The women failed by a justice system that’s supposed to be blind”)
Our Watch Award
Administered by The Walkley Foundation
- Richard Willingham, ABC Investigations, “Shortage of doctors causing victims of sexual crime to wait for forensic examinations” (“Victims of violent crime forced to wait for forensic examinations in Victoria due to ‘dire’ shortage of doctors”; VIDEO; AUDIO)
Humanitarian Storytelling Award
Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross and administered by The Walkley Foundation
- Matthew Davis and Peter O’Donoghue, Foreign Correspondent, ABC, “Myanmar’s Forgotten War” (“On the Frontline of Myanmar’s Forgotten Civil War”; “The Battle for Chinland”; “The trees that make music, the landscapes that inspire Mark Simeon Ferguson, and the music of Myanmar’s forgotten war”)
Media Diversity Australia Award
Supported by Media Diversity Australia, The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council and administered by The Walkley Foundation
- Hagar Cohen and Raveen Hunjan, ABC 7.30 and ABC News Online, ‘Racism allegations lead to staff exodus’ (“Lawyers speak out with allegations of racism inside Legal Aid NSW”; “Three lawyers speak out with allegations of racism inside Legal Aid”)
Arts Journalism
The following two awards recognise excellence in journalism about the creative arts, from the perspectives of both practitioners and critics. Through the generous support of the Hantomeli Foundation and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the winners of the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism will each receive $5000 in prize money.
June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism
Supported by Copyright Agency
- Anna Verney and Richard Cooke, Guardian Australia and The Monthly, “The John Hughes literary plagiarism series” (“Miles Franklin-nominated novelist apologises for plagiarising Nobel laureate ‘without realising’”; “Parts of John Hughes’ novel The Dogs copied from The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina” “Being John Hughes”)
The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism
Supported by the Hantomeli Foundation and administered by the Walkley Foundation
- Catriona Menzies-Pike, Sydney Review of Books, “Critic Swallows Book” and “Fool’s Gold”
Scholarships, Fellowships & Grants
Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship
Supported by: Anita Jacoby, Nine Network and AFTRS
Tatenda Chikwakukire and Kevin Ding
WIN News Broadcast Scholarship
Supported by: WIN News
Sophie Watson
Walkley Young Indigenous Scholarship
Supported by: BHP, Ten and Junkee Media
Isaac Muller
Esme Fenston Fellowship
Supported by: ARE Media
Jessica Howard
Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism
Supported by private donors
Stefan Armbruster
Marian Faa
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