Sport Australia Media Awards

The Sport Australia Media Awards were established in 2002 to recognise excellence in Australian sports journalism and broadcasting. The awards focus on analytical and insightful reporting and the presentation of sport and sporting issues. The awards are the only dedicated sports media awards in Australia. The Walkley Awards do have several sports categories.[1]

The most prestigious award is the Lifetime Achievement Award that recognises exceptional service to sports journalism over an extended period of time. This award is determined by the Sport Australia Board.[1]

## Lifetime Achievement Award

[edit]

Year  | Journalist

|

2002 | Harry Gordon[2]
2003 | Norman May[3]
2004 | Johnny Warren
2005 | Alan Trengove
2006 | Ian Heads
2007 | Mike Gibson
2008 | Bruce McAvaney
2009 | Les Murray[4]
2010 | Caroline Wilson[4]
2011 | Roy Masters[4]
2012 | Peter Wilkins[4]
2013 | Ron Reed
2014 | Ken Sutcliffe[5]
2015 | Mike Coward[6]
2016 | Rebecca Wilson[7]
2017 | Debbie Spillane
2018 | Dennis Cometti[8]
2019 | Karen Tighe[9]
2020 | Jim Maxwell
2021 | Mike Sheahan

## Best Reporting of an Issue in Australian Sport

[edit]

Year  | Journalists  | Comments

|
|

2002 | Kate McClymont and Anne Davies (Sydney Morning Herald) | Bulldogs salary cap scandal
2003 | Kyle Patterson (SBS) | Soccer's Crawford Reform Process.
2004 | Michael Davis (The Australian) | His Fragile Brilliance (James Hird)
2005 | Neil Jameson (Inside Sport) | ‘Professional Foul’
2006 | Nick McCallum (Fox Footy) | 'Blowing the whistle'
2007 | Robert Drane and Ian Kennins (Inside Sport) | Goodbye Grassroots
2008 | Gerard Ryle and Jacquelin Magnay (Sydney Morning Herald) | Firepower
2009 | Mike Hurst (Daily Telegraph) | Caster Semenya
2010 | Adrian Proszenko, Brad Walter, Greg Prichard and others (Fairfax Media) | Thunderstruck
2011 | Greg Prichard and Chris Barrett (Sydney Morning Herald) | Want a Bet?
2012 | Daniel Lane (Fairfax Media) | 'For 30 years, they had a monster in their midst'
2013 | Andrew Holden (The Age) | Essendon FC drug scandal
2014 | Michael Warner, Mark Robinson and Chip Le Grand (Herald Sun and The Australian) | Essendon drugs scandal
2015 | Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Sam Clark and Max Murch (ABC Four Corners) | ‘Making a killing’
2016 | Nick Tabakoff (Daily Telegraph) | Gotcha: The Parramatta Eels Salary Cap Scandal
2017 | Louise Milligan, Lisa McGregor and Trish Drum (ABC Four Corners) | ‘After the Game’,
2018 | Leo Schlink (Herald Sun) | 'The big fix'
2019 | Shark Island Productions | The Final Quarter
2020 | Jessica Halloran and Julian Linden, The Australian and The Daily Telegraph | 'On Thin Ice: Katia's Story'
2021 | Selina Steele, Michael Cain, Julian Linden
Adrian Arciuli, Anna Henderson, Abdullah Alikhil | Tackling abuse in football, The Daily Telegraph
The Taliban Takeover, SBS

## Best Coverage of a Sporting Event

[edit]

Year  | Journalists  | Coverage title

|
|

2005 | 1197 RPH Adelaide | South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
2006 | SBS |
2007 | Nine Network | Amazing Adelaide
2008 | SBS | Cycling
2009 | Inside Sport |
2010 | Broadcast Media - Nine Network
Print Media - Sydney Morning Herald | State of Origin 2010
Sport coverage
2011 | Broadcast Media - SBS
Print Media - (The Sunday Telegraph) | Cycling
Sport coverage
2012 | Broadcast Media - Fox Sports
Print Media - The Sunday Age | 2011-12 KFC T20 Big Bash League
Winners, sinners, grinners
2013 | Broadcast Media - Fox Sports
Digital Media - Toby Forage SBS | Rugby
2013 Tour de France
2014 | Sporting Event - Network Ten
Digital Media - Fox Sports and News Corporation) | Big Bash Cricket
Network Sport — ‘Taking the world game to every Australian’
2015 | Sporting Event - The Age
Digital Media - cricket.com.au | 2014 AFL grand final
2015 Ashes test series
2016 | Sporting Event - Network Ten
Digital Media - Seven Network | 2015-16 Big Bash League
Olympics on 7
2017 | Sporting Event - Fox Sports
Digital Media - Seven Network | Horn v Pacquiao – World Title’
‘Summer of 7Tennis 2017’
2018 | Sporting Event - Seven Network | 2018 Commonwealth Games
2019 | The Age & The Sydney Morning Herald | 2019 Ashes series
2020 | Sporting Event - Fox Sports Australia | Boxing Day Test
2021 | Sporting Event - Seven Network | Tokyo 2020 Olympics

## Best Individual Sport Coverage

[edit]

Year  | Journalists

|

2006 | Robert Drane (Inside Sport)
2007 | Michael Dodge (Herald Sun)
2008 | Will Swanton (Fairfax Media)
2009 | Gerard Whateley (ABC)
2010 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (ABC)
Print Media - Mike Colman (The Courier-Mail)
2011 | Broadcast Media - Michael Tomalaris (SBS)
Print Media -David Sygall (The Sun-Herald)
2012 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (ABC) and (Fox Sports)
Print Media - Richard Hinds (Sydney Morning Herald)
2013 | Television - Gerard Whateley (Fox Footy and ABC)
Print Media - Caroline Wilson (The Age)
Radio - Gerard Whateley (ABC
2014 | Television - Gerard Whateley (ABC) and Fox Footy)
Radio - Gerard Whateley (Grandstand AFL)
Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian)
2015 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (ABC and Fox Footy)
Print media - Will Swanton (The Australian)
Digital Media - David Weiner (Fox Sports)
2016 | Broadcast Media - Bruce McAvaney (Seven Network)
Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian)
Digital Media - Jack Kerr (freelancer)
2017 | Broadcast Media - Kelli Underwood (Fox Sports and ABC)
Print Media - Konrad Marshall (Good Weekend Magazine)
2018 | Broadcast Media - Lucy Zelic (Special Broadcasting Service)
Print Media - Andrew Webster (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Digital - Michael Chammas (NRL.com)
2019 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (SEN Radio and Fox Footy)
Print Media - Konrad Marshall (Good Weekend)
Digital - Mary Konstantopoulos (Ladies Who League)
2020 | Audio - Quentin Hull, ABC Radio
Written -Peter Badel, The Courier-Mail
Video - Joint winners: Zac Bailey, NRL.com and Kelli Underwood, ABC and Fox Sports Australia
2021 | Audio - Neroli Meadows, Ordineroli Speaking
Written - Phil Lutton, The Sydney Morning Herald
Video - David Culbert, Seven Network

## Best Sport Profile

[edit]

Year  | Journalists  | Story coverage

|
|

2005 | Angus Fontaine (Inside Cricket) | The Warrior Within’ (Justin Langer)
2006 | Broadcast Media - Ben Cheshire (ABC Australian Story)
Print Media - Peter Lalor (The Australian) | 'One Perfect Day' (Death of cyclist Amy Gillett)
'Mongrel Streak'
2007 | Broadcast Media - Wendy Page and Ian Harley (ABC Australian Story)
Print Media - Anthony Sharwood Alpha Magazine | 'Man of the Century' (Barry 'Nugget' Rees)
'Running for his life'
2008 | Broadcast Media - (ABC Australian Story)
Print - Media - Caroline Wilson (The Age) | 'She's not there' (Sally Robbins)
'How football failed one of its own'
2009 | Broadcast Media - Roger Carter (ABC Australian Story)
Print Media - Jessica Halloran (Fairfax Media) | 'When We Were Racers' (Sir Jack Brabham)
'Jelena Dokic'
2010 | Broadcast Media - John Taylor (ABC)
Print Media - Amanda Hooton (Good Weekend Magazine) | 'Boxing hopeful' (Dane Mulivai)
'Mark Webber – Mark 1’
2011 | Broadcast Media - Mary Gearin(ABC 7.30 Report)
Print Media - Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | 'Mick and David' (Mick Malthouse and David Buttifant)
'Bloodlines' (Adam Goodes)
2012 | Broadcast Media - Denise Reardon (Fox Sports)
Print Media - Paul Connolly (The Global Mail) | Profiles: Julian Huxley
‘The fastest man you've never heard of’ (Josh Ross)
2013 | Broadcast Media - Caitlin Shea and Roger Carter (ABC)
Print Media - Wayne Smith (The Australian) | Know Thy Enemy
That Sinking Feeling
2014 | Broadcast Media -Ryan Smith, Denise Reardon, Frank Chidiac, Maria Cardomatis
and Lisa Shaunessy
(Fox Sports) and South Sydney Media)
Print Media - Jake Niall (The Age) | ‘Slammin’ Sam’ (Sam Burgess)

‘Inside the world of Liam Jurrah’
2015 | Broadcast Media - Brad Smith, Mike Hirchfield and Mick Neill (Fox Footy)
Print media - Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | ‘Dan Menzel – a long way home’
‘The blame game’ (Ahmed Saad)
2016 | Broadcast Media - Winsome Denyer, Tim Wilson and Marc Smith(ABC Australian Story)
Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian) | 'True Grit – David Pocock'
'Jarryd Hayne'
2017 | Broadcast Media - Adrian Brown (Whooshka Media)
Print Media - Grantlee Kieza (The Courier-Mail)
Digital Media - Nathan Ryan (Fox Sports), ‘  | ‘Outsiders’
‘Prized Fighter - Jeff Horn’
'Beyond the Game: Inside the NRL World'
2018 | Broadcast Media - Andy Maher (1116 SEN)
Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian) | Jarrod Lyle interview
'Is this bloke a thug' (Robert Whittaker)
2019 | Broadcast Media - Josh Cable, Marcus Cobbledick (Good Thing Productions)
Print Media - Samantha Lane (The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age) | ‘Collingwood: From the Inside Out’,
‘Adam Goodes’
2020 | Broadcast - Adrian Brown, Richard Ostroff, Whooshka Media and Cricket Australia
Iain Payten, The Sydney Morning Herald | ‘The Test – A New Era for Australia’s Team’
‘Judging Jane Saville’
2021 | Broadcast Media - Australian Story ABC TV
Written Media - Konrad Marshall, Good Weekend | Luc Longley: One Giant Leap
Patty Mills: All the right moves

## Best Coverage of Sport for People with a Disability

[edit]

Year  | Journalists  | Story Title

|
|

2010 | Dwayne Grant (Gold Coast Publications) | ‘Never Say Never’
2011 | Leanne West (Network Ten) | ‘David and Michelle’
2012 | Stathi Paxinos (Fairfax Media) | ‘London Paralympic Games’
2013 | Mike Dalton (Nine Network) | Special Olympics Junior Games
2014 | Emma Greenwood (Gold Coast Bulletin) | ‘He who dares lives’
2015 | Amanda Shalala (ABC Radio Grandstand) | ‘Grandstand para-sport profiles’
2016 | Seven Network | 'Rio 2016 Paralympic Games'
2017 | Jim Callinan (Sky News Australia) | ‘Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race'
2018 | Matt Carmichael (Seven Network) | 2018 Winter Paralympics and 2018 Commonwealth Games
2019 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | 2018 Invictus Games
2020 | Matt Carmichael (Seven Network) | Paralympic Presence
2021 | Tom Decent (Sydney Morning Herald / The Age) | The power of the Paralympics,

## Best Sports Journalism from Rural or Regional media

[edit]

Year  | Journalists  | Story title

|
|

2002 | Brett Kohlhagen (Border Mail) |
2003 | Gerard Walsh (Warwick Daily News) | Polocrosse World Cup Coverage
2004 | Daniel DeNardi (The Liverpool Champion) | ‘No Place to Call Home’
2005 | Kim Sporton (Bayside Weekly) | Exploration of VFL football team, the Sandringham Zebras
2006 | Luke Turgeon (Gold Coast Bulletin) | 'Body of work'
2007 | Aaron Kearney ABC Radio | 'Bringing the World Game to Newcastle'
2008 | Richard Schmeiszl Sentinel-Times Newspaper | 'Football Crisis'
2009 | Samantha Derrick WIN News Wollongong | 'Never Too Old: Seniors in Sport'
2010 | Andrew Piva (Cairns Post)
Tim Doutré (Star News Group) | ‘All about the game for life’
‘Are player payments killing the game?’
2011 | Allison Jess (ABC Goulburn Murray) | 'Coby's Back'
2012 | Newcastle Herald Sports Department | ‘Trouble in Tinkler Town’
2013 | Michael Warren (Mackay Telegraph) | Barba Inc
2014 | Robert Dillon (Newcastle Herald) | ‘Bye, bye boganarie’
2015 | Matthew McInerney (APN Fraser Coast Chronicle) | ‘Body of work’
2016 | Robert Dillon (Newcastle Herald) | 'Dreams and Knightmares'
2017 | Grant Edwards (Sunshine Coast Daily) | ‘Multisport Mecca’
2018 | Mackenzie Colahan (Central and North Burnett Times) | Decline of rugby league in outback Queensland'
2019 | Stuart Walmsley | RUGBY.com.au
2020 | Kieran Pender, Mike Bowers, Freelance and Guardian Australia | "From the ashes of catastrophe: how 'aqua therapy' is helping a town through 2020'
2021 | Donna Page (Newcastle Herald) | Newcastle cricket's turf war

## Best Depiction of Inclusive Sport

[edit]

From 2009 to 2017 called Best Coverage of Women in Sport.

Year  | Journalists  | Coverage title

|
|

2009 | Merryn Sherwood (Canberra Times) | 'Canberra United - Making a Difference for Women's Sport'
(Special commendation)
2010 | Raelee Tuckerman (Bendigo Advertiser)
2011 | Luke Waters (SBS) | ‘A Belt that Fits’
2012 | Canberra Times | ‘A capital season for women in Canberra’
2013 | Warren Partland (The Advertiser) | Raising Netball's Status
2014 | Matt Weiss, Denise Reardon and Kelli Underwood (Fox Sports) | ‘Breaking Ground’
2015 | SBS | The 2015 women's FIFA World Cup
2016 | Network Ten | 2015-16 Women's Big Bash League
2017 | Fox Footy | AFL Women's coverage
2018 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | The Outer Sanctum Podcast
2019 | Media Stockade | ‘Power Meri’
2020 | Amanda Shalala, ABC | 'In Her Words'
2021 | Peter Dickson | The Ripple Effect, Dickson Films

## Best Sports Photography

[edit]

Year  | Photographer  | Image Title

|
|

2002 | Bruce Long (The Courier-Mail) | ‘Grabba’
2003 | Kristi Miller (The Sunday Telegraph) | The Gus and Joey saga
2004 | Ray Kennedy (The Age)
Vincent Long (Inside Sport) | Doubles’ photo of US doubles pair, Mike and Bob Bryan
'Park Life'
2005 | Nicole Garmston (Herald Sun) | ‘Bird Strike’
2006 | Warren Clark (Inside Sport) | 'The Fight'
2007 | Michael Dodge Herald Sun)
Alex Coppel Sunday Herald Sun | Dream Catchers
Tiwi Magpies
2008 | Michael Dodge Herald Sun) | Football Life
2009 | Quinn Rooney (Getty Images) | Water Relief
2010 | Craig Golding (Getty Images) | 2010 World Masters Games
2011 | Mark Dadswell (Getty Images) | PNG Cricket
2012 | Scott Barbour Getty Images | Rugby League 2012
2013 | Rohan Thomson (Canberra Times) | Canberra Cavalry
2014 | Cameron Spencer (Getty Images) | ‘Rain Dance’
2015 | Brett Costello (Daily Telegraph) | ‘Shark Splash’
2016 | Cameron Spencer (Getty Images) | Say Cheese
2017 | Michael Dodge (Getty Images) | ‘Cyril Magic’
2018 | Ryan Pierse (Getty Images) | '‘Cop it on the Chin’
2019 | Michael Willson | ‘The Kick’ AFL Photo of Tayla Harris
2020 | Scott Barbour, Australian Associated Press | 'The Melbourne Cup'
2021 | Jay Town | Eye on the ball, Tennis Australia

## Best Analysis of the Business of Sport

[edit]

Year  | Journalists/Media  | Story Title

|
|

2013 | John Stensholt (Australian Financial Review) | Cricket Broadcast Rights
2014 | Ramy Haidar (Inside Sport) | ‘The Cyberscrimmage’
2015 | Simon King (The Australian's Deal Magazine) | ‘Charting a bold course’
2016 | Jeff Centenera (Inside Sport) | 'The 0.1 percenters'
2017 | Jack Kerr (Freelance) | ‘Sports Betting Industry Analysis’
2018 | John Stensholt and Max Mason (Australian Financial Review) | 'Cricket Broadcast Rights'
2019 | Tracey Holmes | The Ticket, ABC

## Best Contribution to Sport via Digital Media

[edit]

Year  | Media

|

2018 | PlayersVoice (Interviews with leading Australian athletes)
2019 | Herald Sun ‘Sacked' - Mick Malthouse talks about his sacking from Collingwood Football Club

## Innovation in Sports Media

[edit]

Year  | Media

|

2020 | Fox Sports Audio, Virtual Crowd and Flying Fox Camera, Fox Sports Australia
2021 | Optus Sport, Social Media Innovation, UEFA EURO 2020

## Discontinued Awards

[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (November 2022)

|

## Best Depiction of the Value of Sport to Australians in a Community Setting

[edit]

Up until 2009 named Community Sports Award

Year  | Journalists  | Story Title

|
|

2002 | David Pearson and Brian Webb of 104.1FM, Darwin
2003 | Nick McCallum (Nine Network Today Show) | 'Manangatang Horse story'
2004 | Mark Howard (Seven Network) | 'Footy From the Hearts'
2005 | Brad McEwan (Network Ten) | ‘Local Hero’ series
2006 | Nick McCallum (Fox Footy Channel) | Footy Fanatics
2007 | Travis Cranley (Inside Sport) | 'Disabling sports'
2008 | Paul Kennedy | 'Drug Game'
2009 | Travis Cranley (Inside Sport) | 'Kiddie Wars'
2010 | Mary Gearin – (ABC 7.30 Report) | ‘Majak Daw’
2011 | Grantlee Kieza (The Courier-Mail) | ‘Million Dollar Noby’
2012 | Luke Waters (SBS) | ‘Race Game’
2013 | Will Swanton (The Australian) | 'Life saver'
2014 | McGuire Media (Foxtel) | ‘The Recruit — Indigenous Carnival episode’
2015 | Dan Goldberg, Adam Kay and Anthony De Sylva (Mint Pictures and ABC) | ‘Pitch battle’
2016 | Tim Sheridan and Matt Weiss (Fox Footy) | 'From Little Things'
2017 | Allyson Horn (ABC) | ‘Afghan AFL’

### Best Journalism on Australian Sports Commission-related Programs

[edit]

Year  | Journalists  | Comments

|
|

2002 | Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | Indigenous sport
2003 | Janelle Miles (Australian Associated Press) | Athletes blood worth bottling
2004 | Jesse Fink (Inside Sport) | ‘Silent Witness’
2005 | Jacquelin Magnay (Good Weekend Magazine) | Wired World of Sports"
2006 | Andrea Ulbrick and Sally Regan (Film Australia) | 'Nerves of Steel'

### Youth Sport Media Award

[edit]

Year  | Journalists

|

2002 | Amanda Smith of ABC Radio National
2003 | Steve Grove and Tony Thomas ( (Daily Telegraph)
2004 | Shaun Hollis (The Messenger)

[2] [3] [4] [10] [5] [6] [11] [8] [9] [12] [13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "ASC Media Awards 2017". Australian Sports Commission website. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
2. ^ a b Messenger, Robert (26 September 2002). "Sports media innovator receives award, PM's praise". Canberra Times.
3. ^ a b "Australian Sports Commission Media Awards 2003". AAP Australian Sports News Wire, 03. 3 December 2003.
4. ^ a b c d e "ASC Media Awards 2009-2012". Australian Sports Commission at Pandora Web Archive. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27.
5. ^ a b "2014 ASC Media Awards". Australian Sports Commission at Pandora Web Archive. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
6. ^ a b "2015 ASC Media Award Winners". Australian Sports Commission at the Pandora Web Archive. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
7. ^ Rebecca Wilson honoured with ASC Lifetime Achievement Award for media 3/11/2018.
8. ^ a b "Sport Australia honours Cometti with Lifetime Achievement". Sport Australia website. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
9. ^ a b "ABC's Karen Tighe receives Lifetime Achievement Award". Sport Australia. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
10. ^ "2008 ASC Media Awards". Australian Sports Commission at Pandora Web Archive. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
11. ^ "2016 ASC Media Awards". Australian Sports Commission at the Pandora Web Archive. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
12. ^ "Sport Australia Media Awards - 2020". Sport Australia. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
13. ^ "Mike Sheahan receives Lifetime Achievement Award". Sport Australia. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.