How you helped The Age change the world this year

There are a dizzying number of metrics in modern media. Journalists consider pageviews, engagement time, sessions per user, scroll depth, click-through rates, open rates and newspaper sales regularly in the course of their work. There are days when all of the above will enter an editor’s mind before they have flicked on the kettle.

There are also many qualitative measures of the value of our work. Is it useful? Does it help subscribers make better decisions? Will it make them smarter? Better informed? Is it entertaining? Compelling? Nuanced? Informative? Up to date? Emotive? There are infinite ways one can judge an article’s success.

The Building Bad investigation sparked the resignation of CFMEU boss John Setka as the first front page of the series went to press.Credit: The Age

The metric most important to The Age’s journalists has no numerical value, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Impact.

Subscribers to The Age, much like our reporters and editors, have the unique privilege of being able to view the real-world impact of our work almost immediately. Our reporting this year has altered the decisions of governments, prompted major investigations and brought to light society-shaping revelations. I make that statement without any fear of overstatement. To illustrate this point, let me take you through just a few of the year’s highlights.

There was no greater example of a story with impact this year than the Building Bad series, led by Age reporters Nick McKenzie and Ben Schneiders in collaboration with The Australian Financial Review’s David Marin-Guzman, and the team at 60 Minutes. This reporting uncovered widespread allegations of corruption and criminality within the country’s most powerful union, the CFMEU. When our reporters put questions about their findings to the long-time boss of the union, John Setka, he quit almost immediately. Many others have been sacked or left the union since that time as the Fair Work-appointed administrator attempts to clean up the union. Just this week the Victorian government’s report into the saga that played out across its Big Build worksites was handed down.

Charlotte Grieve’s reporting on podiatric surgeons triggered a review process that could see the profession forced to stop using the word “surgeon” as a job title. This would be a sensible change given many patients did not know their feet were being treated by people who were not medical doctors.

Our readers were given a frightening glimpse into the so-called tobacco wars, a violent confrontation that resulted in the firebombing of more than 100 buildings across the city as gangs struggled for control of the illicit tobacco market. The depth of this conflict was brought to light by Chris Vedelago, Marta Pascual Juanola and their colleagues in our crime team. After months of violence, and eight months after it promised to act, the state government put forward a bill to implement a strict tobacco licensing scheme.

Our Sydney Morning Herald colleague Kate McClymont brought to our readers shocking allegations of sexual assault by one of the country’s most powerful broadcasters and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones, who subsequently threatened legal action against The Age and the Herald. Months later, he was arrested by NSW Police and new charges were levelled against him this week.

Alan Jones after being granted bail on November 18.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Back in Victoria, a plan to sell off parts of the state’s births, deaths and marriages registry to private investors was abandoned following public backlash, after Broede Carmody revealed the secret negotiations to the public.

Chip Le Grand has reported extensively on the rise of antisemitism in Victoria, which has prompted intervention from the Victorian and federal governments.

Aisha Dow’s eye-opening reports on scams in Australia led to ASIC suing the local subsidiary of one of the world’s biggest financial institutions, HSBC. That move followed Dow’s investigation, which revealed HSBC had dawdled in its response to scammers who stole from hundreds of the bank’s local customers.

In Melbourne, our City team, led by the indefatigable Cara Waters, ensured voters in the local government elections had the information they needed to make informed decisions when voting on councillors and mayors. This was more of a challenge than it should have been, given this state’s archaic postal voting system and the opacity of our state’s donation laws. Their coverage of the election fallout continues in earnest, with reports on the conflict of interest questions Melbourne’s lord mayor now faces after accepting almost $1 million in donations. The next hurdle will be a vote on a proposed tower in Arden backed by one of his donors, Sidney Myer.

Lord mayor Nick Reece accepted a donation from one of the financiers behind a proposed 57-storey tower in North Melbourne, despite promising not to take funding from developers.Credit: The Age

Last week, the biggest story in town was a major scandal reported by Henrietta Cook and Broede Carmody, who discovered surgeons at one of Victoria’s largest public hospitals were being investigated by the state’s corruption watchdog over allegations they billed the Transport Accident Commission for medical procedures that were never carried out on patients. IBAC is also investigating whether surgeons claimed to be operating on multiple patients at the same time, to receive extra funding from the TAC. These reports have already prompted discussion of changes to whistleblower protections at the hospital.

Convinced yet?

It is by no means an exhaustive list of our journalism, but even the most cynical subscriber could not ignore the impact of these stories on Victoria and Australia. Fearless journalism like this is not cheap and it is not easy. The principles of freedom of the press, open justice, transparency and accountability are consistently under threat. Upholding them for the public good requires a huge investment of time, energy and resources.

In addition to the stories above, we do plenty of work that may not alter the course of history, but hopefully serves you, dear subscribers, by enriching your lives somehow. Be it with a recommendation for a hatted restaurant in your suburb or a new show to binge on Netflix. Or a sneaky game of Target Time between tasks at work? Perhaps you have signed up with us for access to our trove of unrivalled information on Victoria’s schools and universities?

Whatever brought you to us, I sincerely hope we have offered you fulfilment this year. You are owed that and more because, as a subscriber to The Age, you have supported the groundbreaking journalism that has enriched the lives of millions of Victorians in 2024.

If you’re having a break over Christmas, may it be merry and safe.

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