Journalism student Isaac Irons wins Walkley Award for his work on Shandee’s Podcast

Queensland journalism student Isaac Irons had a drink at his local pub last year that changed his life. Now the 21-year-old has a prestigious Walkley Award to his name.

Isaac Irons: ‘I’ve been one of the luckiest journalism students in the country to work with Hedley.’

Stopping for a quick beer at his local pub changed journalism student Isaac Irons’ life forever.

The 21-year-old was chatting with his bartender mate at The Kenmore hotel in Brisbane in April last year when he told Irons he knew a journalist who might be able to help him out with some work experience.

The bartender handed Irons a phone number that belonged to The Australian’s national chief correspondent Hedley Thomas, a two-time Gold Walkley Award-winning reporter.

“I said to my mate that he’s got to be kidding, Hedley is one of the top journalists in the country, I couldn’t believe it,” Irons said.

“But I contacted Hedley, we met up and had a chat and I told him I was really keen to work with him.”

Irons said Thomas told him he was about to kickstart a new project, a podcast series that would delve into the 2013 murder of 23-year-old Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn.

Thomas asked the University of Queensland journalism/arts student if he would like to help.

“I came into it with no expectations, I was working one week at a time and would just see how it would go,” Irons said.

“I wanted to learn from Hedley and I literally started by helping organise all the stacks of paperwork that he had printed out and then I became more involved in the research and writing.

“It’s been a phenomenal experience, I’ve been one of the luckiest journalism students in the country to work with Hedley, I’ve learnt more from him than from my degree.”

The Australian’s Isaac Irons and Hedley Thomas at the Walkley Awards. Picture: The Walkley Foundation

The 20 episode podcast series, compiled by Thomas, David Murray, Irons and Slade Gibson, last week won the 2022 Walkley Award for investigative journalism. The series exposed disastrous failings that occurred at Queensland’s state-run DNA laboratory, involving dozens of rape and murder investigations, and has led to a major public inquiry.

Irons said he was overwhelmed to be awarded journalism’s highest honour and it had put him in good stead to finish his studies and land a job as a journalist. “Hedley’s so meticulous with everything, he follows every lead and calls every source and I’ve watched him build relationships with sources and build people’s trust,” he said.

“I was starstruck at the Walkleys with all the journalists there and I’d been reading their work. It definitely lights a fire under me, I’ve won a Walkley and now I’m keen to go out and write articles and prove myself.”

Irons said once he completed his four-year university degree, he hoped to start a cadetship at a newspaper.

“I still have to get across the basics of court reporting, general rounds, politics and sport … I’ve skipped a few levels going with Hedley, but I’m really keen to do all that sort of work,” he said.

“The podcast got me hooked on crime but I’m also interested in education and social affairs.”