Investigative journalists Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman and Ben Schneiders have won the highest honour in Australian journalism, the Gold Walkley, for revealing the nation’s most powerful union had been infiltrated by bikies and organised criminals.
The Building Bad investigation, published by The Age/SMH, ran for several months and exposed widespread allegations of corruption and intimidation within the union. It resulted in the sacking of several high-profile union leaders and ultimately saw the union placed under administration by the Fair Work Commission.
Nick McKenzie addresses media after the Ben Roberts-Smith judgment last year.Credit: James Brickwood
The series, backed by The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes, collected two awards at the 69th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism event held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney on Tuesday – the Gold Walkley and the award for best long-form current affairs story on television.
The Age and SMH staff swept the awards with 10 Walkleys spanning a range of investigative journalism, photography, news reporting, opinion writing, cartoons and design, from 20 nominations – more than any other news organisation in Australia.
The Age’s Nick McKenzie and Michael Bachelard won the award for best scoop of the year, leading the list of this masthead’s winners at the 69th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
Reporters, photographers, cartoonists and designers from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald won nine awards on Tuesday night after scoring 20 nominations across 16 categories – more than any other news organisation in Australia.
Alongside the award for best scoop, McKenzie, Bachelard and Amelia Ballinger’s investigation into a powerful Home Affairs secretary’s secret efforts to exert political influence also took the prize for best short-form current affairs story in the television/video category.
The broader Age, Herald, Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes team responsible for the major Building Bad investigation into the CFMEU also won the award for the best long-form current affairs story on television.
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