The Melbourne Press Club has awarded $30,000 in grants in the latest round of the Michael Gordon Journalism Fellowship program.
Our national fellowships program supports social justice journalism by funding projects newsrooms might not have the resources to cover. It is named in memory of Michael Gordon, the respected former political editor of The Age newspaper who died suddenly in February 2018.
This round’s successful projects cover a range of social justice issues. The four journalists chosen as 2022-23 Michael Gordon Fellows and the focus of their projects are:
- Jarni Blakkarly, Choice magazine – NT Rooftop Solar
- Nino Bucci, The Guardian – Aboriginal road deaths in NT
- Marni Cordell and Zelda Grimshaw, The Guardian – Australian-trained police in West Papua
- Holly Nott, AAP – Fiji election and regional democracy
The selection panel included former ABC and Sky News journalist Jim Middleton, Guardian Australia Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam, and former Fairfax Books managing editor Robyn Carter. The judges commented that each of the four recipients presented strong stories.
Melbourne Press Club CEO Cathy Bryson said the response to this round illustrated the need for the program.
“The club received applications from around the country, each of high quality. The Melbourne Press Club is proud to be able to support talented Australian journalists to pursue important projects and shine a spotlight on important social issues. We thank our supporters, Copyright Agency Fund, the National Press Club, Robyn Carter and Family and Nine for enabling the continuation of this program.”
We extend our congratulations to all of this year’s Michael Gordon Fellowship recipients. Thank you to everyone who applied, we encourage future submissions from all.