The 2022 Award for Press Gallery Journalist of the Year is now CLOSED.
FEDERAL PARLIAMENTARY PRESS GALLERY
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR 2022
Wednesday 7 September 2022
Karen Middleton - the Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper - has won the 2022 Federal Press Gallery Journalist of the Year Award.
The announcement was made tonight at the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball at Parliament House in Canberra.
This annual award recognises an outstanding body of journalism that combines insightful analysis and coverage of national affairs and politics or news breaking that changes the course of the political or policy debate, informing audiences with unique insights.
The judges said:
"In a hugely impressive field of entrants, Karen Middleton's combination of high-impact scoops, incisive political analysis, consistent reporting excellence, breadth of skill and depth of perspective was superb."
"Her powerful portfolio of work showcased the formidable skill, detailed knowledge of history, breadth of contacts and clarity of analysis she has honed across an impressive three decades of reporting on Australian politics and policy from the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery."
"In the lead up to the 2022 federal election, Karen filed a series of scoops that revealed inner workings of the Morrison Government, shed new light on former Prime Minister Scott Morrison's original preselection in Cook, and broke news on the continuing reverberations from the Jenkins review of Parliament's workplace culture."
"Her work included powerful analysis pieces combined with news exclusives, new angles that advanced a story, or told a story behind the story."
"The depth of her reporting experience and her skilled understanding of politics and its key players shone through."
Seven News Political Editor Mark Riley was highly commended by the judging panel. They said:
"Mark's work sets a high bar for all-round excellence in political journalism - from evolving the traditional election debate format to elicit surprise moments through to long-form television features and in his strong commitment as one of Australia's most senior television political editors to be on the road right throughout the election campaign."
The judges noted the formidable skill of reporters in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery was evident in a very strong field of entries.
The award is supported by Westpac and the judges for this year were Michael Brissenden, Gareth Parker and Misha Schubert.
Previous winners: Matt Price, Tony Walker, Laura Tingle, Paul Daley, Mark Riley, Lenore Taylor, Katharine Murphy, Lyndal Curtis, Nicola Berkovic, Matt Moran, Phil Coorey, Nick Butterly, Andrew Probyn, Annika Smethurst, Alex Ellinghausen, David Speers & Sharri Markson and Samantha Maiden.
Media Contact: Maurice Reilly, National Press Club of Australia
Ph: 0415 738 473
