"Above all, our News Awards are about recognising good journalism, a quality which is as essential to our newer platforms as it is our established print products. "

Hedley Thomas, The Courier Mail

Hedley led the reporting of Queensland’s Dr Death, the rogue surgeon, Jayant Patel, and revealed the authorities had hired him without knowing he had been struck off the medical register in the US for gross negligence.

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The Australian

Which the judges said was a newspaper hitting peak form in the prime of its life that vigorously prosecutes its role as the nation’s newspaper. It looked at the attempted populism of its confused broadsheet competitors and left them in its wake to establish itself as the prime source of national news breaking, analysis and comment delivered with dignity, wit and credibility.

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Mike Safe, The Weekend Australian Magazine

For a range of work that included a feature on the trauma felt by the families of hit-and-run victims, and "Analysis of a Murder", the reconstruction of the execution-style killing of a psychiatrist.

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Matt Price, The Australian

For his The Sketch column, written from his Canberra base, which is an often whimsical, occasionally serious, look at politics which nevertheless still manages to break stories. When Matt questioned the WA Opposition Leader about a $200 million hole he’d spotted in the Liberals’ election costings, The Sketch was able to chronicle the politician’s excruciating reaction in front of rolling television cameras as he saw his party’s election hopes fade.

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David Caird, Herald Sun

David set up the memorable photo of treasurer Peter Costello under a pile of newborn babies to illustrate Victoria’s baby boom. He also shot Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins stumbling down a flight of steps near the Yarra, just days after her G-string incident at a fashion show.

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Marshall Hall, The Gold Coast Bulletin

Marshall has extended the newspaper’s coverage of business and finance, consistently pushing it on to Page 1 and into other sections of the newspaper. His reports on the search for a local couple missing in a plane crash underlined the wide-ranging impact of personal tragedy on communities and businesses.

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Mike Sheahan, Herald Sun

Whose annual review of the AFL’s top players took two months of research and helped maintain the paper’s reputation for outstanding coverage of the game. He also revealed the rift between AFL officials and the Sydney Swans that threatened to compromise the growth of the game.

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Ian Gunn, The Australian

Who headlined the story of the farcical attempts by two Greek athletes to avoid a drugs test before finally withdrawing from the Olympics with "Greek heroes exit stage, wearing scandals."

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Mike Carroll, editor of Townsville Bulletin

For TXT the Editor, an initiative that has made text messaging the primary form of contact between his paper and its community.

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Claire Gould, Jenny Dillon, Drew Gibson, Stephen Birch, The Daily Telegraph’s on-line team.

Who used the newspaper’s site to launch the only Tsunami Information Exchange in Australia to collate information from readers and official sources on the missing and the dead, and broke the story of the resignation of Bob Carr more than an hour before his announcement.

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Joe Valdman, The Daily Telegraph

Who retouched a photograph of Sydney Harbour to create an amazing image of what might happen if a tsunami were to hit Sydney. His work was reproduced in newspapers all over Australia.

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Eric Lobbecke, The Daily Telegraph

For a wide portfolio from a boiler-suited Peter Costello clocking on for the front page of The Daily Telegraph’s budget special to the fossilised skeleton of a Sea King helicopter.

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Liam Houlihan, Herald Sun

Who spent three days living on the streets of Melbourne to investigate the issue of begging, in the course of which he was charged by police under the Vagrancy Act. He also made the link between a name on the guest list for the Danish royal wedding and a man charged with serial rapes, breaking the story of the court case involving Princess Mary’s cousin.

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