ABC Global Affairs Editor John Lyons named Journalist of the Year – The ABC’s Global Affairs Editor John Lyons has been honoured as Journalist of the Year at the 2024 Kennedy Awards for Outstanding Journalism at a gala event dominated by the ABC.
Lyons, one of Australia’s leading and most respected journalists, was recognised for his body of work reporting from the front lines in the Middle East. Lyons was also recognised with the Outstanding Team Player or Mentor award, and the award for Outstanding Feature Writing.
The ABC won nine awards in total at the Kennedy’s beating thousands of entries at the event held in Sydney.
ABC political journalist, presenter and broadcaster Annabel Crabb won the award for Outstanding Columnist for three columns that covered issues in the law, politics and the media.
The joint ABC Indigenous Affairs Reporting Team and Four Corners program Guarded, an investigation into private security policing in the Northern Territory, won the Indigenous Affairs Reporting award. Four Corners and ABC Investigations were also awarded Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting – Long Form for the Careless investigation into how the NDIS fails to protect our most vulnerable.
And the Stop and Search podcast produced by ABC Investigations for Background Briefing won the Outstanding Podcast award.
The ABC was also honoured with awards in the Digital Innovation and News Camera Coverage categories.
ABC Director News Justin Stevens said the breadth of work across the ABC’s winning entries reflected the public broadcaster’s standing as Australia’s most trusted source of news.
“To see our journalists recognised in this way across all platforms and categories shows the standards of newsgathering, investigation and analysis that are the hallmarks of ABC News.
“It is terrific to see John’s exceptional work over the year recognised in this way. The standard of work and depth of analysis John has brought to our coverage has been a central part of the team effort from our foreign correspondents during a challenging year on the international stage. Their work helps Australians make sense of the world around them. Congratulations to all finalists and winners.”
The Kennedy Award judges said Lyons’ reporting of the conflict in the Middle East has been “brave, impartial and incisive.”
“Since the attacks of October 7, 2023, John Lyons has been the most authoritative Australian voice in both reporting and analysing this generational calamity. With both accuracy and moral clarity, the vastly experienced Middle East hand has framed this conflict in ways that will stand the test of time.
“As the American foreign correspondent TD Allman, who died this year, put it:” Genuine objective journalism not only gets the facts right, it gets the meaning of events right.” John Lyons passes that double test. It is journalism of the highest standard.”
The 2024 ABC Kennedy Award Winners
Journalist of the Year
- John Lyons -ABC
Outstanding Team Player or Mentor
- John Lyons – ABC
Indigenous Affairs Reporting
- Four Corners Guarded Team – Guarded – Four Corners, ABC
Outstanding Columnist
- Annabel Crabb – Hitting A Nerve: Three Columns – ABC
Outstanding Feature Writing
- John Lyons – Body of Work – ABC News and ABC online
Outstanding Digital Innovation
- Alex Lim, Katia Shatoba and Thomas Brettell – The Mullet is Alive and Well in AFL – ABC News
Outstanding News Camera Coverage
- Fletcher Yeung – Volunteer Doctors Evacuate Wounded Soldiers in Ukraine – ABC News
Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting – Long Form
- Anne Connolly, Amy Donaldson and Jessica Longbottom – Careless- Four Corners, ABC
Outstanding Podcast
- Paul Farrell, Mario Christodoulou, Benjamin Sveen, Leila Shunnar and Ingrid Wagner- Stop and Search – Background Briefing, ABC
Media Release – ABC
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ABC Global Affairs Editor John Lyons named Journalist of the Year
