The Walkley Awards have announced a review of their submission regulations following a contentious issue involving the Seven Network’s exclusive interview with Bruce Lehrmann.
This decision emerged after details surfaced about Seven providing Lehrmann with a year-long accommodation during the production of their Spotlight program.
In a compelling subplot to Lehrmann’s defamation lawsuit against Network 10 and host Lisa Wilkinson, questions have been raised about Seven’s disclosure of their arrangements with Lehrmann to the Walkley Foundation board. Lehrmann, a former political aide, had sued over statements made about him in the media.
The controversial story, “Trial and Error”, created by Liam Bartlett, Steve Jackson, and Mark Llewellyn, achieved a nomination for the Scoop of the Year award at the 2023 Walkley Awards. Lehrmann, during his court appearance, revealed that the Seven Network had been covering his housing expenses for a year, extending beyond the filming period, to secure the much-discussed interview with Bartlett.
Despite the nomination, the story did not clinch the award. The Walkley Foundation expressed that while they did make initial inquiries, they now believe that the judging panel should have been informed of all pertinent details, particularly regarding instances of ‘chequebook journalism’.
The Walkley Foundation issued a formal statement highlighting their recent findings and subsequent actions.
“The Board of the Walkley Foundation has become aware of evidence given by Bruce Lehrmann in the Federal Court of Australia that the Seven Network has an agreement in place to cover the cost of Mr Lehrmann’s accommodation during the production process for a series of stories in which Mr Lehrmann is a participant.
In light of this evidence the Board has reviewed the disclosures made on the entry of the Seven Spotlight story “Trial and Error” into the All Media Scoop of the Year category of the 2023 Walkley Awards. The story was subsequently nominated as a finalist in this category by the first round independent judging panel.
In the second judging round, conducted by the Walkley Judging Board, the story was not selected as the winner.
The Board has made enquiries of Seven as to the nature of the agreement in place with Mr Lehrmann at the time of entry.
It is the Board’s view that the judging panel should have been equipped with all the relevant information about payments made or benefits flowing to a participant in a story under consideration, regardless of whether related stories were not submitted for consideration or were to be produced in the future.
As a result of this situation, the Board has resolved to review all terms and conditions of entry to the Awards, including with a view to ensuring transparency and full disclosure around the practice of “chequebook journalism”, where a media organisation makes a payment or provides a benefit to an individual in exchange for access.
The Board will make it clear to entrants that where an entrant fails to make a full disclosure of any and all payments or benefits-in-kind to participants or third parties, the Board can and will remove stories from consideration for the Awards at any stage of the process, or revoke status in the event that the entry is a finalist or winner.“
A spokesperson for Channel 7 responded, stating their compliance with the Walkley Foundation’s guidelines and full adherence to the entry criteria.
“7NEWS Spotlight adhered to the Walkley Foundation’s guidelines as part of the nomination process and, in disclosing its arrangement with Bruce Lehrmann, fully met the entry criteria.
We welcome the Walkleys’ findings after its exhaustive ‘review’ confirming this.”
Seven seemingly supports potential / accused murderers and rapists but clearly not staff they had a red right hand in ruining their constitutions…
Should get a Gold Logie for Blackmail & Adverse Events 🏆