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The ABC's global affairs editor John Lyons has been honoured as Journalist of the Year at the 2024 Kennedy Awards for Outstanding Journalism.
He also won the awards for Outstanding Team Player or Mentor and Outstanding Feature Writing, recognising his body of work reporting from the Middle East.
The top award marked one of nine earned by ABC journalists on the night.
The ABC's global affairs editor John Lyons has been honoured as Journalist of the Year at the 2024 Kennedy Awards for Outstanding Journalism, alongside a swathe of other ABC journalists at the Royal Randwick gala event.
Lyons received the top award for his body of work reporting from the Middle East since the current war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.
"Since the attacks of October 7, 2023, John Lyons has been the most authoritative Australian voice in both reporting and analysing this generational calamity," the judges said.
"With both accuracy and moral clarity, the vastly experienced Middle East hand has framed this conflict in ways that will stand the test of time."
"As the American foreign correspondent TD Allman, who died this year, put it: 'Genuine objective journalism not only gets the facts right, it gets the meaning of events right.' John Lyons passes that double test. It is journalism of the highest standard."
ABC director of news Justin Stevens reacted to Lyons's win in an ABC press release.
"It is terrific to see John's exceptional work over the year recognised in this way," Stevens's statement read.
"The standard of work and depth of analysis John has brought to our coverage has been a central part of the team effort from our foreign correspondents during a challenging year on the international stage.
"Their work helps Australians make sense of the world around them.
"Congratulations to all finalists and winners."
Four Corners, Background Briefing recognised
ABC journalists won nine awards in total at this year's Kennedys, with Lyons also winning the Outstanding Team Player or Mentor and Outstanding Feature Writing Awards.
ABC political journalist, presenter and broadcaster Annabel Crabb won the award for Outstanding Columnist for three columns titled Hitting a Nerve, which covered issues in the law, politics and the media.
Camera operator Fletcher Yeung won the Outstanding News Camera Coverage award for his work on the story Volunteer Doctors Evacuate Wounded Soldiers in Ukraine.
The story featured his photography focusing on volunteer medics in the region following Russia's invasion in February 2022.
Alex Lim, Katia Shatoba and Thomas Brettell won the Outstanding Digital Innovation award for their project The Mullet is Alive and Well in AFL, which analysed the hairstyles of all 2024 season players and their performance in the game.
The joint ABC Indigenous Affairs Reporting Team and Four Corners program Guarded, an investigation into private security policing in the Northern Territory, won the Indigenous Affairs Reporting award.
Four Corners and ABC Investigations were also awarded Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting — Long Form for the Careless investigation into how the NDIS fails to protect our most vulnerable.
The investigation, by reporters Anne Connolly, Amy Donaldson and Jessica Longbottom, sparked calls from disability advocates for better NDIS regulation.
And the Stop and Search podcast produced by ABC Investigations for Background Briefing won the Outstanding Podcast award.
Hosted by Paul Farrell, Mario Christodoulou, Benjamin Sveen, Leila Shunnar and Ingrid Wagner, the podcast reports on issues related to the War on Drugs.
Stevens said the breadth of work across the ABC's winning entries reflected the public broadcaster's standing as Australia's most trusted source of news.
"To see our journalists recognised in this way across all platforms and categories shows the standards of news gathering, investigation and analysis that are the hallmarks of ABC News," he said.
Other winners included Nine presenter and reporter Tracey Grimshaw, who received the Lifetime Achievement award.
The awards gala — named after the respected crime reporter Les Kennedy, who died in 2011 at the age of 53 — was attended by over 400 media workers, receiving a record 1014 entries across its 38 categories.