Five examples of how to hold corporations and unions accountable
This year, for the first time, the Walkley Foundation will honour the best industrial relations journalism in Australia through the Helen O’Flynn and Alan Knight Award. (Update: Finalists have been announced!) We’re doing this because we want to see more of this work. But for years reporters have won Walkley judges’ recognition for great reporting in this realm. Here’s a selection of recent finalists or winners for some inspiration.
Inside our own industry
Pamela Williams, Killing Fairfax. 2013 Walkley Book Award winner.
Australian Financial Review reporter (and seven-time Walkley winner) Pamela Williams’ exposé of Fairfax Media’s fortunes was inspired by the huge rounds of redundancies and cuts that arrived at the media company after years of challenges to its newspaper business model. (More have since been announced, including this week.) Williams brought all her investigative skills and gripping writing to this fast-paced, eyewitness account of a newspaper giant’s decline.
What the judges said: “Killing Fairfax is a detailed and powerful explanation of what happened when digital adventurers ambushed the traditional Australian media empires, which had built what had been considered impregnable fortresses out of the revenue from newspaper advertising. The fortresses crumbled — and were hastily subjected to desperate reconstruction plans — as the digital interlopers gained strength, income and influence. The book’s title refers to just one of those empires, but the story involves them all. It also tells of small enterprises — some genuinely started in a garage — which in 15 years became billion-dollar companies. Killing Fairfax provides a much-needed insight into the industry-altering challenges Australian media are still scrambling to meet.”
Construction corruption
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Sam Clark, 7.30, ABC TV. “State of the union” and “Jobs for the boys”. 2014 winner, TV/AV Daily Current Affairs category.
This investigation of corruption, kickbacks, rackets and organised crime links within the building industry and the building union, the CFMEU, sparked a political storm and triggered a royal commission, criminal investigations, and the sacking and suspension of union officials. The team obtained the key interviews with two industry whistleblowers and, crucially, persuaded the victim of a bikie standover to put the footage on the record, despite the considerable personal risk to all three sources. They analysed the money trail, court records and leaked police files to reveal the overlap of crime, money and power in Australia.
What the judges said: “This was an outstanding, coherent and well-produced investigative piece — a highly revealing exposé of links between organised crime and the construction industry. The journalists showed considerable skill in gaining the trust of two whistleblowers who risked their lives and livelihoods by speaking out. Chilling vision of the bikie standover demonstrated this risk.”
Underpayments outed
Ben Schneiders, Royce Millar and Nick Toscano, The Age: “Sold out: Australia’s biggest wages scandal”. 2016 finalist, Business category.
Age reporters discovered that under deals between some of Australia’s biggest retailers, fast-food giants and the shop assistants’ union, low-income workers had been underpaid billions of dollars, and that the Fair Work Commission had approved noncompliant workplace agreements. The series resulted in millions more for workers each year and the review of dozens of workplace agreements.
Deep dive, drawn
Sam Wallman, Kylie Boltin and Genevieve Dwyer, SBS. “Winding Up The Window: The End of the Australian Auto Industry”. 2016 finalist, Artwork category.
Sam Wallman’s drawings illustrate deep reporting with experts, former auto workers and officials on all sides of a thorny issue — how the auto industry died, and what would happen to its thousands of workers.
Sharp questions
Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Four Corners, ABC TV. “Jackson and Lawler”. 2016 winner, Interview category.
Meldrum-Hanna managed to get disgraced union whistleblower Kathy Jackson and her partner, then-vice president of the Fair Work Commission Michael Lawler, on camera. The couple spoke candidly in their home and gave extraordinary access to home videos and video diaries. Meldrum-Hanna’s interview style combined preparation and improvisation to build a story that was both newsworthy and compelling.
Judges’ comments: This intimate portrait was one of the most riveting pieces of television broadcast in 2015. Featuring extraordinary access and secret video diaries, this story gives viewers a unique insight into their controversial world.
If you’re covering industrial relations in Australia, you really should enter the Helen O’Flynn and Alan Knight Award for Best Industrial Reporting — especially since we’ve just extended the deadline to May 19. Entry is free for Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance members.
