Nick McKenzie has been named the 2020 Australian Journalist of the Year, for a portfolio of work published in Good Weekend magazine and Nine Network 60 Minutes.
The judges said:
This is Nick McKenzie's second Perkin win, after receiving the award in 2017 alongside Age colleague Richard Baker.
The award was presented at the 2020 Quill Awards for Excellence in Victorian Journalism at Crown Palladium on 26 March 2021.
Full judges' citation
Nick McKenzie’s impressive body of work in 2020 added to the breadth and depth of his investigative journalism over many years. The scope and ambition of his work, matched with a commitment to pursuing the story beyond the scoop, make him a good fit with the intentions of the Graham Perkin award.
McKenzie’s work on war crimes, Crown casino, and corruption in the Victorian branch of the ALP, in particular, continues to make a difference, not just by prompting official actions and inquiries but by encouraging other media to investigate issues and by building a more open public conversation about key institutions and values.
McKenzie shines a powerful light. His is quality journalism critical to our democracy.
The winning entry
Nick McKenzie, The Age, SMH, Sixty Minutes, for investigative reporting on crime and corruption
"The Faceless man", 60 Minutes, June 2020
"One last mission", Good Weekend, 27 June 2020
"The Final Battle", 60 Minutes, November 2020
"Crown Unmasked (Update 2020)", 60 Minutes, February 2020
"Law Unto Themselves", 60 Minutes, December 2020
Other Perkin award finalists
Lorena Allam, The Guardian, for agenda-setting coverage of Indigenous affairs
Jacqueline Maley and Kate McClymont, SMH, The Age, for a series of works on former High Court judge Dyson Heydon
Mark Willacy,ABC, for the 'Killing Field' investigation
Read more about 2020 Perkin award finalists and their entries