Heydon investigation leads nine Walkley nominations for Herald

An investigation by the Heraldinto sexual harassment claims against former High Court justice Dyson Heydon has been nominated for two of the country's highest media awards.

TheHerald received nine nominations for this year's Walkley Awards,including two for the Heydon investigation led by veteran investigations reporter Kate McClymont and senior journalist Jacqueline Maley.

Former High Court justice Dyson Heydon has denied the sexual harassment allegations.

Former High Court justice Dyson Heydon has denied the sexual harassment allegations.Ben Rushton

The investigation,which revealed the findings of a High Court inquiry into the former justice’s behaviour as well as ongoing systemic issues in the legal profession,was nominated in the print/text news report category as well as the investigative journalism category.

McClymont has won seven Walkleys,including two for herinvestigation into sexual harassment claims against television presenter Don Burke in 2018.

TheHerald also swept up two of the three nominations for the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year award,with Nick Moir and Kate Geraghty both receiving recognition for their work.

Moir was also nominated in the Feature/Photographic Essay category for his photo essayFirestorm as well as alongside Harriet Alexander,Mark Stehle and Richard Lama in the Feature Writing Short category for their piece,"The Monster:A short history of Australia's biggest forest fire".

There were 16 nominations received across the Herald and sister paperThe Age.

The mastheads'digital team received two nominations for their interactive online project "Invisible Crime:Are we failing victims of sexual violence?"

Journalists fromThe Age were nominated for their work reporting the hotel quarantine blunder that led to Victoria's second wave as well as for their collaboration with60 Minutes in exposing branch stacking in the Victorian Labor Party.

"After such an extraordinary year,it is hugely gratifying to see theHerald’s journalists,photographers and designers recognised so strongly in this year’s Walkley finalists,"Herald editor Lisa Davies said.

"Their passion,dedication and professionalism is a testament to the resilience of the whole newsroom and theHerald’s commitment to quality journalism and impactful storytelling. I couldn’t be prouder."

Now in its 65th year,the Walkleys will be celebrated virtually this year due to coronavirus restrictions.

The winners will be announced in a ceremony streamed online and broadcast on Sky News Extra on November 20.

Photographers from the Herald andThe Age were also recognised in the 2020 Nikon-Walkley Photography Prize,which are separate to the Walkley Awards.

TheHerald's James Brickwood was recognised for his portrait of AFL legend Adam Goodes forThe Australian Financial Review, andThe Age's Christopher Hopkins received the overall Photo of Year award.

Staff reporters

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