The Sydney Morning Herald earns 15 finalist nominations in Kennedy Awards

The Sydney Morning Herald has been recognised by the Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism with 15 finalist nominations.

The awards, named in honour of the late Herald crime reporter Les Kennedy, this year attracted more than 900 entries of “exceptional quality”, Kennedy Foundation chairperson Carl Dumbrell said.

Foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott and photographer Kate Geraghty are joint finalists in the Outstanding Foreign Correspondent category for their work on the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Chief reporter Jordan Baker and former chief political correspondent, now European correspondent, David Crowe are both nominated for Outstanding Columnist. The pair join Perry Duffin in the Outstanding Political Reporting category for their coverage of the Dural caravan discovery.

Herald chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont and Harriet Alexander’s stories on Tim “Hurricane” Alford received a nod for Outstanding Court and Legal Affairs Reporting. Eryk Bagshaw, Natalie Clancy, Clare Sibthorpe and Bianca Hrovat’s hospitality industry expose for 60 Minutes was named in the Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting – Long Form category.

The Building Bad series on CFMEU corruption – a joint project by the Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes – is a contender for Outstanding Investigative Reporting.

Chief photographer Nick Moir’s images of Cyclone Alfred earned a nomination for Outstanding News Photography, as did Flavio Brancaleone’s coverage of Pope Francis’ funeral.

Cathy Wilcox and Matt Golding are both up for Outstanding Cartoon. Health reporter Angus Thomson was named in the Young Journalist of the Year category.

Other finalists include Sarah Danckert and Carla Jaeger (Finance Reporting), Michael Bachelard and Charlotte Grieve (Reporting on the Environment) and Andrew Bain (Travel Writing).

The winners will be announced on August 15.