Cracking the gloss

Lindsay Tuffin

HE was an inspiration.
ABC 7.30 Report presenter Kerry O”Brien was also memorable as guest speaker at the 2008 Media Awards dinner last month.

O’Brien took journalists and guests through a very personal tour of a life in journalism.

He talked of the early days of being a reporter. Of learning the craft and developing the muscles – both intellectual and physical – for the sometimes arduous challenge of news gathering. And it was, he said, far more physically arduous and unpredictable then. You needed physical muscle to lug around the heavy gear required to record. Now you take a laptop, a dig-note taker, a digi camera. It’s all so different.

But the essence remained and remains the same. To truthfully, as fairly as possible, gather and analyse the news.

The essence remained the same. But the obstacles, paradoxically, said O’Brien, were greater. And that was because of the layers of spinners now placed between the reporter and an idea of the truth. The last half of O’Brien’s speech to the journos at Rydges dealt with this stark reality. It is so much harder to get to the truth. Spin doctors, gloss merchants, information control specialists are everywhere.

Paid far more than most journos; paid to gloss the truth.

And cracking that gloss – getting to the essence of a story – was the big challenge for today’s hacks. We need rallying calls to inspire our professions. This was a ripper!

And the winners were:

TASMANIAN MEDIA AWARDS 2007
A project of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance:

Thorough research, a direct approach and an eye for colour have helped The Australian newspaper’s Tasmanian correspondent, Matthew Denholm, win the top prize in the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance ‘2007 Tasmanian Media Awards’.

Denholm’s success was announced to more than 100 guests at this evening’s Awards dinner at Rydges Hotel in Hobart. It’s the second consecutive year Denholm has been awarded the Keith Welsh Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.

Denholm’s winning entry constituted several front page exclusives including Geoffrey Cousins’ opposition to Gunns’ pulp mill and a Beaconsfield miner’s anger over the financial imperatives driving unsafe mining practices.

Denholm also revealed a level of election campaign cooperation between the Liberal Party and Exclusive Brethren members, and brought national attention to the pulp mill debate through a magazine feature on the implications for Tamar Valley business owners.

Overall this evening, 12 prizes were awarded in recognition of the outstanding work by some of the state’s leading journalists.

MEAA State President, Barbara Pongratz, commends all the winners.

“2007 was a rich year for local reporters”, Ms Pongratz said.

“Important issues such as Gunns’ pulp mill, the health system, Tasmanian Compliance Corporation, compensation for state wards, battery hen welfare and election campaigning provided a wealth of leads.”

“Tasmanians should feel confident that local journalists are working hard to uncover the truth and hold public figures to account”, Ms Pongratz said.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

KEITH WELSH PRIZE FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Matthew Denholm (The Australian)
Highly commended – Simon Bevilacqua (The Sunday Tasmanian)

AWARD FOR BEST NEW JOURNALIST
Mark Worley (Mercury)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FEATURE WRITING
Matthew Denholm (The Australian)
Highly commended – Jennifer Crawley (Mercury)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRINT, ONLINE AND WIRE SERVICE JOURNALISM
Sue Neales (Mercury)
Highly commended – Matthew Denholm (The Australian)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RADIO CURRENT AFFAIRS
Simon Cullen (ABC)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RADIO NEWS
Simon Cullen (ABC)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Simon Bevilacqua (The Sunday Tasmanian)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMMENT OR ANALYSIS
Matthew Denholm (The Australian)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
Matthew Newton (Freelance)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
James Kerr (Mercury)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TELEVISION CURRENT AFFAIRS
Airlie Ward (ABC)

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN REPORTING ON MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS
Airlie Ward (ABC)