A hugely deserved Walkley for Gary Hughes

Tim Burrowes

November 27, 2009 11:49

For me, easily the best moment of The Walkeys last night was when the family of Gary Hughes was presented with a set of Walkley Awards to replace the three that were lost when their home burned in the bushfire.

I was even more delighted when he then won the Gold Walkley.

There’ve probably been less than ten times in my life when I’ve read a piece of newspaper writing and felt my blood running cold. As I said at the time, it was an obvious Walkley winner.

If you didn’t see it then, you really should read his amazing story of surviving the bushfire. It’s a piece of journalism that will stay with you for a long time.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.

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1 COMMENTS

Jason Whittaker 27 Nov 09

Agreed.

But am I the only one who’s been a tad uncomfortable with Hughes’ reporting since? I just reckon it’s been a mistake to have him reporting on the inquiry, blame game stuff, etc. He’s understandably and rightly biased and his reports have been particularly damning. Too close to the story, I would have thought…

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