NEWCASTLE Herald journalists Matthew Kelly, Helen Gregory, Anita Beaumont and Donna Page have been rewarded for their work on an investigate series with a Walkley Award.
The quartet took out the top prize in the community and regional affairs category after spearheading the Herald's"Your Right to Know" campaign.
With support from the Judith Neilson Institute Kelly, Gregory, Beaumont and Page spent months, and in some cases years, on a series of investigations uncovering information Hunter residents deserve to know.
From taxpayers facing a massive bill for Truegain's environmental nightmare at Rutherford to a potentially deadly friable asbestos crisis at Newcastle East Public School, the journalists were able to uncover a series of stories that may otherwise have gone untold.
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Newcastle Herald editor Heath Harrison said the Walkley Award was well deserved.
"We already knew Donna, Anita, Helen and Matthew were top operators, but it's great for them to have this recognition and for the Herald again to again be acknowledged for the quality of its journalism," he said.
"It's worth remembering that the 'Your Right to Know' series was made possible by (former Herald journalist) Joanne McCarthy, whose win at the Kennedy Awards in 2019 included a grant from the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.
"The series is ongoing. We have several investigations continuing."
SEE THE NEWCASTLE HERALD'S 'YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW' CAMPAIGN HERE
Mark Willacy and the ABC Investigations-Four Corners Team have won the Gold Walkley, for their investigation "Killing Field".
The program, which also won the Walkley Award for investigative journalism, exposed alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
