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The Herald’s crime writer Riley Walter was declared the 2026 Young Australian Journalist of the Year at the Mid-Year Walkley Prizes for journalism on Thursday night. There was little time for him to celebrate; he had to be on the road by 7am on Friday morning, heading to the Northern Beaches with photographer Audrey Richardson – who won the visual storytelling category at the same awards – for another remarkable story, this time an exclusive interview with a mother whose son almost died from a shark bite in January (read it tomorrow, online and in the paper).
Our education writer Emily Kowal, who won the short form journalism award for her work exposing predators on gaming platforms targeted at children, also had little time to relax or celebrate. She spent Friday putting the finishing touches on an investigation that she has been working on for six months, into a church school in suburban Sydney with unusual practices that left students feeling controlled and trapped. Emily’s investigation will run in the Herald and on 60 Minutes on Sunday evening.
Our Parramatta bureau chief Anthony Segaert’s celebrations were also curtailed by a deadline. He went from winning the public interest journalism category for his series of stories exposing the ructions at Parramatta Council, to finishing off a definitive read on the ICAC investigation into the council. Anthony has been covering the inquiry for almost six weeks, following every revelation about the “Pink Ladies’” attempt to take over. We have been as glued to this story as you. Don’t miss Anthony’s piece tomorrow.
These young guns are brilliant, and we’re incredibly proud of them. But outstanding work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. All our young journalists, not just those who won awards on Thursday night, are thriving because of the mentorship, collaboration and encouragement of our whole newsroom – particularly their direct editors, including but not limited to Kath Wicks, Andrew Forbes and Danielle Smith, who support them with care and wisdom.
The Herald has always taken seriously its responsibility to nurture new generations of journalists. I was reminded of the importance of that this week, when the central story, again, was the rise of One Nation. The week began with our RPM poll, which showed a third of people surveyed nominated Pauline Hanson as their preferred prime minister, and continued with her speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday.
The surge in support for One Nation has been sudden and sharp. It is redrawing our political landscape at warp speed, and turning decades-old assumptions on their head. The political establishment is rushing to understand and recalibrate. As Hanson becomes a serious political force and news organisations examine the grassroots frustrations that are driving voters to look at an old party through a new lens, it’s essential that we apply the same rigour to our examination of One Nation as we do to other parties.
This requires reporters who are independent, fair and knowledgeable – qualities that have been embedded in the Herald’s DNA for 195 years. Those qualities are more important than ever now, given the risk Hanson’s rise poses to press freedom. Her attacks on journalists for asking reasonable questions, her bans on certain outlets from attending press conferences, and her policy of axing SBS and making the ABC a paid service in urban areas are worrying, and have echoes of Donald Trump’s punitive approach to his media critics in the United States.
I’m enormously proud, not only of our mid-year media prize winners, but of all our journalists, both youthful and experienced, who report without fear or favour every day. A free press is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy. And I am grateful to you, our subscribers, whose support allows us to continue this important work.
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