Walkleys acclaim for the magnificent eight

The Australian’s agenda-­setting journalism has been recognised in the 2021 Walkleys, with ­photographer Brian Cassey ­winning the Nikon Portrait Prize and six journalists ­and another photographer receiving ­finalist nominations.

Brian Cassey’s The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa photo.

The Australian’s agenda-­setting journalism has been recognised in the 2021 Walkleys, with ­photographer Brian Cassey ­winning the Nikon Portrait Prize and six journalists ­and another photographer receiving ­finalist nominations in the 66th year of the prestigious awards.

Cassey won the coveted Nikon Portrait Prize on Thursday for his photo The Yarrick Family of ­Kunhanhaa, which the judges praised as a composed and beautiful image.

In sports journalism, Jessica Halloran, Sharri Markson and Claire Harvey were nominated for their in-depth coverage of a series of NRL scandals and cover-ups, including “Crime Squad on trail of NRL cover-up over Sam Burgess claims”, “Drugs, sex, domestic violence: football’s dark cover-up” and “Misguided star waiting at home of rival to exact revenge”.

Two out of three finalists in the short feature writing category are Megan Lehmann for her piece, “The Aftermath”, which shone a light on the growing number of Covid-19 patients who endure symptoms long after infection, and Tom Patterson’s moving portrait of Mark May in “Searching for a lost soul”.

Tom Dusevic’s political ­commentary has again been ­recognised in the award’s analysis and opinion category, with three ­pieces on the trials and setbacks of the federal government’s ­vaccine rollout, including “Why we must temper the joy on ­vaccine”, “PM delivers a rocket as vax ­debate goes feral” and “Where the bloody hell are the vaccines, Prime Minister?”

Jason Edwards is one of three nominees in the sport photography category for his shot of the rock climber Tom Perkins in “The Crux”.

Walkley Awards chief executive Louisa Graham congrat­ulated all nominees and said the decision to hold the awards in February 2022 would mean a longer wait than usual to ­announce the winners, but the delay gave the industry “the best chance of celebrating together”.