The Sydney Morning Herald journalists scoop the pool at Kennedy Awards

Journalists from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have scooped the pool at the 2025 Kennedy Awards, taking home eight major prizes.

Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie was named journalist of the year for the third time for a body of work that included the Building Bad series, which exposed high-level corruption and organised crime links at construction union the CFMEU.

The investigation, which won the Gold Walkley last year, also garnered The Age, Herald, Australian Financial Review, and Nine’s 60 Minutes, the award for outstanding investigative reporting.

Herald health reporter Angus Thomson was named young journalist of the year for work including an investigation exposing high blood lead levels among Indigenous children in the mining town of Broken Hill, and a series of exclusive reports on Sydney’s troubled Northern Beaches Hospital.

Testament to the success of cross-platform collaboration at Nine, the Herald‘s Eryk Bagshaw, Clare Sibthorpe and Bianca Hrovat, and 60 Minutes’ Natalie Clancy, won the award for outstanding television current affairs reporting for their exposure of sexual assault and migrant worker exploitation in Sydney’s restaurant industry.

Photographer Flavio Brancaleone claimed two awards for his arresting images from the Vatican of the funeral of Pope Francis, including the prize for outstanding news photography. The public voted his image of the late pope lying in state the winner of the “Power of the Lens” award.

The Age journalists Michael Bachelard and Charlotte Grieve won the prize for outstanding reporting on the environment for their story on carbon offsets, “Dollars in the dust: Is outback scrub really saving the planet?”

In recognition of the unseen work that is the backbone of the Herald newsroom, associate editor Kathryn Wicks was named mentor of the year. She shared the award with 60 Minutes executive producer Kirsty Thomson.

The Sydney Morning Herald deputy editor Liam Phelan said he was “extremely proud of the entire Herald team who have dominated this year’s awards”, with nominations across 15 categories.

“It’s a reflection of the hard work and exceptional talent across our entire newsroom. I am especially pleased for Angus Thomson, whose dedication, persistence and ability to get to the heart of a story elevate him to a level well beyond his years.”

The winners were read out in front of a crowd of several hundred of their peers at a gala ceremony at Royal Randwick on Friday evening.

Political journalist Michelle Grattan, whose career has included covering federal politics for both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award, as was the late ABC business journalist Peter Ryan OAM, who died in July at the age of 64 after a battle with thyroid cancer.

The awards – named in honour of the late Herald crime reporter Les Kennedy, who died in 2011 at the age of 53 – received more than 900 entries this year. Awards are given out in 37 categories, encompassing television, audio, print and digital journalism and photography.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.