Coverage of The Walkley Foundation’s Gala Event – ‘What Price Would You Pay?’

Welcome to our group’s coverage of The Walkley Foundation’s gala event held at RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre on August 15, from 6:00-7.30pm. The evening featured some of Australia’s most prominent journalists speaking about what it takes to make great journalism and why this work is so important.

As part of our live reporting assignment for Journalism, Ethics, Law and Power, we assembled a team of five budding journalists, each eager to tackle the challenge of live reporting.

Conor Mackinnon and Heather Broadbent – Conor and Heather will both be working on hard news pieces following the event.

Aidan Williams – Aidan will be producing a colour story following the event.

Lauren Basto – Lauren will be focussing on photography at the event on the evening of August 15.

Fraser Douglas – Fraser has been tasked with our group’s social media coverage for the event. Fraser will also be maintaining the group website.

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Hard News Piece #1

Why Australia’s journalists continue to work despite the personal challenges

Several of Australia’s leading journalists discussed the challenges of producing quality journalism during a panel discussion last Thursday at RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre.

The Walkley Foundation event, ‘What Price Would You Pay?’, explored the personal cost Australian journalists face during their careers.

Members of the panel included Zena Chamas, Lisa Martin, Grant McArthur, Louise Milligan, Caroline Wilson, in addition to moderator Lauren Molan.

Each speaker discussed the personal challenges they had faced, as well as the impact it had on their lives and careers.

Wilson described the criticism she received for her coverage of the Essendon supplements scandal as “coming at you from all angles.” It was a “very personal attack”, she said.

For Martin, whilst in PNG covering the Pacific Island Forum in 2015, she was the victim of an attempted carjacking.

Fearing for her life, she said it “took a good six months to recover from PTSD like symptoms.”

Overcoming stress and trauma during their careers, and the “true sadness” they had all faced was a strong theme throughout the panel’s discussion.

During his time covering the health sector,  McArthur remembered “speaking with families whose children had been killed” as particularly difficult. He said that “this was especially profound as a parent.”

The stress “definitely has an impact on your family,” Martin said. “It does affect more than just the journalist,” she said.

Despite the challenges they had all faced, each speaker shared how they were able to succeed within the industry despite these challenges.

Wilson believes the only way she was able to overcome the criticism was to “own the story,” she said. “You don’t back down ever as a journalist.”

The importance of support within the industry was vital to Chamas’ success as a journalist, “Seeking support from other people who had experience really helped,” she said.

It is “such a privilege to be a journalist,” Martin said.

By Conor Mackinnon 

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Hard News Piece #2

Walkley Foundation gala event ignites calls for increased media protection

ABC Journalist Louis Milligan has called for the strengthening of journalist protections at an event in RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre earlier this month.  

The event, titled “What Price Would You Pay?”, had multiple journalists discussing the personal prices they’ve paid to work in journalism.

The Walkley Foundation hosted the event, with journalists from The Age, The Herald Sun, Crikey, and The Guardian attending.

“We have to strengthen the journalists’ privilege,” Milligan said. “We need legislation to protect media: It’s really, really important.”

Milligan covered allegations against Cardinal George Pell in her book “Cardinal”, causing her to be subpoenaed for confidential material during his trial.

“Prosecuting journalists in secret for not giving sources to people alleged of multiple counts of child sexual offences is problematic at best.”

Milligan complied with the subpoena, but did not give “any material which would identify a confidential source to the defence or court”.

“For people who have been victims of abuse, betrayal is so much worse. I was not going to do that,” she said.

Milligan said she experienced eight months of trauma and stress as a result of the court proceedings. 

Herald Sun Journalist, Grant McArthur, said journalist protections “absolutely” needed to be strengthened.

“We’ve just been through Lawyer X at [The Herald Sun], where we fought for five years to be able to write a story,” he said.

“I could not begin to tell you how much that costs,” he said. “There are no protections. You’re left floating out on the breeze.”

Lisa Martin, a journalist from The Guardian, said greater protections should be given to not only journalists, but also whistleblowers.

The event happened just days after the Australian Federal Police refused to rule out charging journalists for stories covering classified information.

By Heather Broadbent 

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Colour Story

Journalism is a career that asks a lot of difficult questions. Whether it’s interviewing a high profile individual or being subject to an ethical crisis. But “Are you okay?” can be one of the hardest questions to ask someone, and it can be one of the hardest questions to ask yourself.

On August 15, The Walkley Foundation and RMIT presented a panel discussion at the Kaleide Theatre to ask ‘What price would you pay?’ Staging a public campaign to discuss the sacrifices made by an integral industry in any society, and asking Australians to ‘back quality journalism.’

The evening began with a quick introduction of the Walkley Foundation and respective panel by Walkley Foundation CEO Louisa Graham. “We tell the stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told and our goal as a foundation is to benchmark the best,” Graham said. “We engage the media to value journalists.”

The night’s panel was comprised of a mix of RMIT alumnus in Lauren Molan as moderator, The Age’s Caroline Wilson, ABC and Four Corners reporter Louise Milligan and The Guardian journalist Lisa Martin. The four were joined by the Herald Sun Health Editor Grant McArthur and AAP journalist Zena Chamas.

The discussion was kicked off by Laura Molan with the evening’s agenda. The night was divided into two major segments of discussion, “What does quality journalism look like?” and “What price is paid to provide that quality?”

The panel were in unanimous agreement with one another that good journalism is “telling the stories that need to be told, providing a voice for the voiceless and telling the stories that need to be told.”

The sentiment, however, was concluded and well transitioned to the next portion of the discussion by Caroline Wilson in saying “journalism can often be telling the stories people don’t want you to write.”

Wilson went on to describe her adversity and the backlash she had faced covering sensitive issues within the AFL.  Wilson discussed her experience covering the Essendon drug scandal and writing the truth about “A great hero” in James Hird.

“I’ve had tyres slashed, abusive phone calls at 3.00am, threats made to my daughter over social media.”  “You just don’t back down ever as a journalist,” Wilson said speaking to the absolute responsibility journalists hold in providing a story.

The panel then began the sharing of war stories and battle scars which at times felt like a veterans memorial reunion more than a professional lecture. Ms Wilson continued completing the narrative, comparing AFL fans at times as “religious zealots.”

Louise Milligan addressed the reality of her role in the George Pell investigation, and the conditions of examination she was subject to whilst covering the issue and her formal and moral trial as a born Catholic.

Grant McCarthur talked about braving a smile and his melancholic experiencing of eight people’s deaths whilst accompanying paramedics in a helicopter as they tried to “lighten the atmosphere with jokes.”

Despite the panel’s diversity in demographic and the pen they wrote from, the binding aspect shared amongst peers and professional rivals was a sense of comradery and mutual understanding for adversity within the profession.

The night drew curtain and concluded with another agreed sentiment of “seeking support from other people who have had similar experiences” where needed and sharing those war stories. I’ve had a lot of coffees and I’ll have a lot more,”  Wilson said addressing the importance of discussing a shared hardship.

By Aidan Williams

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Event Photography 

By Lauren Basto

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Social media coverage from the event can be found at the link below:

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Our work and preparation for this assignment can also be found at the following link:  https://wordpress.com/view/wpwyp.home.blog