Journalists and photographers working for six Australian media outlets will share $30,000 in the inaugural Michael Gordon Fellowship grants.

The national fellowships to enable social justice journalism honour the memory of Michael Gordon, the respected former political editor of The Age newspaper who died suddenly in February 2018.

The 2018 Michael Gordon Fellows are:

Jack Banister – The Citizen (Melbourne University) – Fighting Suicide in the Tiwi Islands

Helen Davidson/Carly Earl – Guardian Australia – Migrant Seasonal Workers in Australia

David Estcourt – Fairfax Digital – Bush Courts in the Northern Territory

Stephen Fitzpatrick – The Monthly – Pursuing the Uluru Vision

Grace Jennings-Edquist – ABC Life – Refugees in Regional Australia

Miki Perkins/Justin McManus – The Age – Life After Deaths in Custody

Melbourne Press Club CEO Mark Baker praised the high standard of applications for project funding.

“We are delighted to be able to support some outstanding stories that will deliver the kind of journalism that Michael Gordon exemplified in his career,” Baker said.

Baker was joined on the selection panel by former ABC and Sky News journalist Jim Middleton and Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy.

The Michael Gordon Fellowships are generously supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the National Press Club, Fairfax Media, ABC, SkyNews, Hawthorn Football Club, Grant Rule and Sophie Oh and the Ray & Margaret Wilson Foundation.