"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. "

Tony Koch, The Australian, whose stories on rapes in remote aboriginal communities caused a national outcry and led to justice for a 10-year-old girl whose attackers, despite pleading guilty, were not jailed. Koch’s story prompted an immediate State Government investigation and, ultimately, the jailing of five men.

The Sunday Times. With endless creativity and a powerful competitive spirit, The Sunday Times is a weekly that thinks like a daily, dovetailing with its website PerthNow to provide lively seven-day coverage, confidently seeing off threats from Fairfax and the government, and positioning to take over from The West Australian as the state’s biggest-selling weekend paper.

The Geelong Advertiser, which has secured its place as one of the country’s most innovative newspapers, allowing readers to “sack” the editor so they can choose the front page stories. In the last year, The Advertiser has re-defined the role of a modern local newspaper.

The Noosa Journal. It might look like paradise to everyone else, but The Noosa Journal understands its readership in a dynamic business community. Its courageous re-launch put business on the back page while the delivering a dynamic mix of reporting and strong campaigns.

Australian Good Taste. Despite a crowded market, Good Taste stands out as the most innovative, expanding to colour-coded mini magazines and a highly popular website to ensure it offers readers all they want and more than they expect, making it deservedly one of Australia’s highest-selling food magazines

heraldsun.com.au, which has stamped its authority online with a bold redesign and the introduction of Super Footy - Australia’s number one AFL site. The site broke Victoria’s biggest political story in years, the resignation of Premier Steve Bracks.

Evan Hannah, Netani Rika and staff of The Fiji Times for their professionalism and courage in publishing the truth in the face of a clampdown by the military dictatorship which resulted in Evan being illegally deported.

David Hastie, Herald Sun, who has an impressive talent for sniffing out and then hanging on to a strong news story. Wayne Carey and Corey Worthington were two of the biggest stories in Melbourne this year, and David led the way on each of them.

Charles Miranda, Group London Correspondent, for his extensive investigation into a sophisticated drug operation between The Netherlands and Australia. Charles delivered across the internet and print, leaving rival media in his wake

The Sunday Times, PerthNow, which sprang into action when police raided their newsroom on a weekday, orchestrating lively and comprehensive coverage online before the story could be extended in print.

Bully Wall, The Geelong Advertiser. This was a courageous and original campaign which delivered a sharp increase in awareness of the problem of bullying in schools, and a tangible change in community attitudes to the issue.

Trent Dalton, The Courier-Mail. Also a finalist last year, Trent is a strong investigative reporter who adds beautiful writing and a deft personal touch for features of rare pathos, such as his insightful report on the families of serious criminals and a first-hand account of living as a homeless man.

Fiona Hudson, The Sunday Herald Sun, for her remarkable coverage of a court round, including use of Canada’s court database system to unearth an intriguing story of the contested will of a reclusive philanthropist that involved the Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

James Hooper, The Sunday Telegraph, for a series of firsts including the split between South Sydney Rabbitohs owners Russell Crowe and entrepreneur Peter Holmes a Court, secured only by James’ willingness to leave the office and wear out some shoe leather.

Michael Westlake , The Sunday Mail (Brisbane), whose series of highly amusing headlines, includes ‘Stomp in the name of love’ for a story on a face-stomping incident between two rugby league players who had been involved with the same girl.

Craig Greenhill, The Daily Telegraph, who demonstrated initiative by securing shots of cricketer Michael Clarke with Lara Bingle, pushing his car after running out of petrol. His Mt Panorama shot is more than a crash picture, fully capturing the emotion of the incident.

Craig Greenhill, The Daily Telegraph, whose exclusive photo became one of the most published images of the year because it graphically answered the question everyone was asking: just how bad was swimmer Nick D’Arcy’s assault on teammate Simon Cowley?

Bill Leak, The Australian, who follows the dictum that a political cartoonist should be "equally unfair to everybody" and is in a class of his own when it comes to bringing the pompous down to size.

Rebecca Burrell, Sunday Magazine, For her clean, simple and modern designs which are glamorous and upbeat while still delivering impact and news value so that a weekly magazine enjoys all the design benefits of a glossy monthly.