A heartfelt thanks to the real heroes behind our journalism

Earlier this month I wrote to you about our commitment to difficult conversations. The Age’s homepage and newspapers are among the few places in society where robust debate is allowed to take place, and various perspectives are discussed.

Our approach is to eschew the closed feedback loops encouraged by social media algorithms and partisan publications aiming to promote a political position. Instead, our reporters explore issues independently and trust the process of inquiry to lead them to conclusions.

Journalists often receive accolades for their reporting, but there is no award for the people behind those stories – the tipsters, informants and interviewees – who often remain anonymous.Credit: Getty Images

None of these concepts will be unfamiliar to you. I write to you about them often.

There is, however, an essential ingredient to this kind of journalism that often avoids recognition: the generosity of the subject.

Journalists often receive accolades for their reporting: Walkleys, Quills, Kennedys. There is no award for the people behind those stories who often remain anonymous – the tipsters, informants and interviewees who are essential to the storytelling process.

The stories we tell with the help of those contacts inevitably find their way to the ears of people in power, where they affect decisions and generate real-life outcomes that improve the lives of people in this state. They also reach the kitchen tables and living rooms of millions of Victorians.

Cherryl Barassi’s comments this week on the taboo topics of euthanasia and suicide helped illuminate the conversations many families in Australia are having.Credit: Simon Schluter

Brave whistleblowers, community-minded citizens and experts speak to us because they trust us to handle their stories sensitively, because they care about the greater good, and because they know that – due to our reputation for independence – their words will land with impact. In other words, when The Age speaks, people listen.

We’ve published several stories this week that demonstrate the generosity of our contacts.

Cherryl Barassi’s extraordinarily honest and heartfelt interview with The Age’s senior reporter Royce Millar, published on Tuesday, was one such example. Her candid comments on the taboo topics of death, euthanasia and suicide illuminated the conversations many families around the country are having.

While the story was sensitively told by Millar, it belonged to Barassi.

When The Age speaks, people listen.

Our unfailingly erudite readers were similarly generous in their responses, whether they wrote to express their support for or disagreement with Barassi’s calls for more accessible euthanasia laws.

“It felt disarmingly honest. Very brave,” wrote Henry Blatman, of Port Melbourne, who was joined by a chorus of writers who agreed with Barassi. One GP said that we should “squeeze every extra bit of benefit” out of life. Another writer warned we were atop the “slippery slope” that concerned many opponents of voluntary assisted dying laws.

Another very different type of story brought to our attention by expert medical contacts was the news that chiropractors had lifted restrictions on manipulating the spines of babies after a four-year hiatus. The day after senior reporter Henrietta Cook’s article was published, the federal health minister asked the Chiropractic Board of Australia for an urgent explanation of its new guidelines that allow practitioners to manipulate babies’ spines, and called a meeting of the nation’s health ministers to discuss the issue. Another story with impact.

Henrietta Cook’s reporting on chiropractors and spinal manipulations of children led the federal health minister to take action.Credit: Getty Images

About a year ago now, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie received life-changing news. A judge found he and his colleague Chris Masters had not defamed the killer and war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith. He was visibly relieved, and, in that moment, one could forgive him a moment of introspection to reflect on the enormous weight that had been lifted from his shoulders.

But when he stepped forward to address the press pack waiting outside the court, it wasn’t his own wellbeing that was top of mind. The brave whistleblowers of the SAS, who took huge personal and professional risks by telling the truth, headlined his list of thanks.

I often end these notes by thanking you, our subscribers, for supporting our journalism. I remain grateful. Today, however, I hope you will forgive me for ending with a thank you to the generous people who tell us their stories, and the brave people who sometimes take great personal risks to provide us with the knowledge we need to create world-changing independent journalism.

If you haven’t yet told your story and have something you think Victoria needs to hear, let me know.

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