Journalism award nominations for The Australian’s best and brightest

The Australian has dominated the shortlist for News Corp Australia’s prestigious journalism awards.

Sports journalist Peter Lalor.

The Australian has dominated the shortlist for News Corp ­Australia’s eminent journalism awards, scoring 21 nominations across 20 categories.

Anthony Klan was nominated for the prestigious Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Excellence in Journalism for exposing failings within Australia’s superannuation industry. He also received a nomination for the Keith McDonald Award for business journalism.

Ben Butler, Michael Roddan and Elizabeth Redman received a nomination for the same business award with their forensic coverage of the banking royal commission.

Will Glasgow and Christine Lacy joined them in the category for their business column, Margin Call.

The paper’s star cartoonists Eric Lobbecke and Jon Kudelka are both up for the Bill Leak Cartoonist of the Year award.

The Australian’s podcast The Teacher’s Pet, a true crime investigation about the 1982 dis­appearance and suspected murder of Lyn Dawson, was nominated for the innovation in storytelling award.

The podcast, which has captivated a global audience and has been downloaded more than 4.36 million times, was created by nat­ional chief correspondent Hedley Thomas and co-producer Slade Gibson.

Trent Dalton, Lobbecke, Idit Nilsson and Veda Todd, who worked collaboratively on a graphic journal depiction of the First Fleet, also received a nomination for the same innovation in storytelling award. Editor-at-large Paul Kelly was nominated for achievements in opinion and commentary.

The Melbourne bureau’s Richard Ferguson is in the running to win 2018 Young Journalist of the Year.

Other finalists include three of The Australian’s stellar political reporters in Canberra, Rosie Lewis, Joe Kelly and Rachel Baxendale, as well as Queensland editor Michael McKenna, all nominated for achievements in specialist journalism.

Shireen Nolan is up for the achievements in design and art award, while Victorian business editor Damon Kitney was nominated for the scoop of the year for his exclusive interview with James Packer. Peter Lalor, who covered the Australian cricket team’s ball tampering scandal in South ­Africa, was nominated for achievements in sports journalism.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said the finalists represented a broad cross-section of the company’s brands across print, digital and broadcast.

“Their level of commitment and professionalism is a reflection of the high journalistic standards we hold here at News, and their work deserves to be recognised and celebrated,” he said.