Lowy Institute announces 2017 Media Award Shortlist

5 September 2017

The Lowy Institute is delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2017 Media Award.

Now in its fifth year, the Lowy Institute Media Award is Australia’s premier award for recognising excellence in foreign affairs journalism. The Award is presented to an Australian journalist or journalistic team working in print, broadcast or online media who has deepened the knowledge or shaped the discussion of international policy. The winner or winning team receives $20,000.

The judging panel for the 2017 Lowy Institute Media Awards comprises: Dr Jeannine Baker, media historian and author; Menna Rawlings, British High Commissioner to Australia; Mark Ryan, Lowy Institute Board Member; Tom Switzer, ABC Radio National presenter and Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies and Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.

Nominations are submitted by the judging panel and by the Lowy Institute’s research team on the basis of four criteria: topicality, influence, originality and quality, for stories appearing between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017. The judging panel then determines the shortlist.

The 2017 Lowy Institute Media Award Dinner will be held at NSW Parliament House on Saturday, 23 September. This year’s Lowy Institute Media Lecture will be delivered by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who will speak on the topic of covering the news in an era of fake news.

The four previous Media Lecturers have included The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie, Chief Executive of News Corp Robert Thomson, and Director‑General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service Nick Warner AP PSM.

Previous Media Award winners include Fairfax Indonesia correspondent Jewel Topsfield, The Australian’s National Security Editor Paul Maley, ABC journalist Hayden Cooper, and Fairfax journalist John Garnaut.

The 2017 Media Award shortlist is as follows:

  1. Matt Brown of the ABC, for his coverage of the military campaign against Islamic State in Iraq (Cameraman on ABC TV News and ‘Highway to Hell’ on Four Corners: Aaron Hollett).
  2. Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Chris Uhlmann and Sashka Koloff for their coverage of the Chinese Communist Party’s political and social influence in Australia.
  3. Paul Farrell, Ben Doherty, Helen Davidson and Nick Evershed for ‘The Nauru Files’.
  4. Sophie McNeill of the ABC, for ‘Yemen: The War on Children’ on Foreign Correspondent (Cameraman: Aaron Hollet); and for coverage of the siege of Aleppo.
  5. Cameron Stewart of The Australian, for his coverage of the DCNS Scorpene leaks; and for his coverage of the Australia–US relationship in the era of Trump.
  6. Eric Tlozek of the ABC, for ‘PNG: A Bloody Boycott’ on Foreign Correspondent; and for coverage of the PNG election.
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