News

Announcements

25th Quill Awards: Open for Entries

The 2019 Quills feature a new Victorian Government Quill for reporting cultural diversity

The 2019 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award

The most coveted award in national journalism carries a $20,000 prize

The 2019 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year Award

The national award recognises the best sports journalism in all media and all codes

New Quill Recognises Cultural Diversity Reporting

A new Victorian Government-sponsored award celebrates nuanced coverage

New Camera Work Categories for Quills

TV Camera Work will be split into two distinct awards for the 2019 Quill awards

ABC's Ashlynne McGhee elected MPC Vice President

New Vice President has served on board for six years

2019 Michael Gordon Fellows Announced

$30,000 in grants shared in the 2019 Michael Gordon Fellowships

China Exchange to Explore Climate Change Responses

Six journalists from across Australia to join 2019 program

Applications Open for China Australia Journalist Exchange

Program runs from 11 to 19 November with visits to Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao

2019 Gordon Fellowships Open for Applications

Up to $30,000 in grants for social justice journalism projects

Media Hall of Fame Open for Nominations

MPC accepting nominations ahead of next national induction dinner in 2020

New Harris book explores fate of child convicts

Child prisoners facing the scaffold in colonial Australia are the focus of the lastest book by former senior Age and Herald Sun editor Steve Harris.

Victorian Homelessness Media Awards: Entries open

Peak body have launched awards to recognise and encourage respecful reporting about homelessness and related issues

New encryption laws threaten journalism: tech experts

Encryption legislation rushed through Federal Parliament last year 2018 create a serious threat to investigative journalism, according to tech experts.

Life membership for Quills chief judge

The retiring chief judge of the Quill Awards, Bernard Teague, has been made a life member of the Melbourne Press Club.

Lawyer X Scoop wins 2018 Gold Quill

The Herald Sun Journalists who broke and led the coverage of the Lawyer X scandal have won the 2018 Gold Quill Award

2018 Awards Finalists Announced

Read all about the 2018 Quills, Perkin and Gordon finalists

MPC President Ferguson Honoured

Melbourne Press Club President Adele Ferguson has been made a Member of the Order of Australia

2018 Quill Awards Open for Entries

The 24th Quills feature a new VicHealth Quill for Coverage of Women in Sport

The 2018 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year

The most coveted award in national journalism carries a $20,000 prize

The 2018 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year

The national award recognises the best sports journalism in all media and all codes

2018 Michael Gordon Fellows Announced

Six projects will be funded in the inaugural round of the national fellowship program

Silvester channels Bogart: “That's the Press, baby!”

Veteran crime reporter John Silvester has challenged journalists to fight back against fake news by recommitting to the fundamentals of their craft

National legends join Media Hall of Fame

Another 48 greats of national journalism have been inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame

Apply Now: $30,000 in Journalism Grants

Michael Gordon Fellowships fund social justice journalism projects

New Quill celebrates coverage of women in sport

VicHealth supports Quill recognising great journalism in the reporting of women in sport.

MPC launches Michael Gordon Fellowships

The new national grants will fund social justice journalism

Applications closing soon for mentoring program

Apply before the end of August to be considered for the third round of our industry mentoring initiative

National Pioneers of Journalism Honoured

Nineteen historical figures have been inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame

C.E.W. Bean symposium in Canberra

30 August 2018

On the 50th anniversary of his death a panel of experts will commemorate "the real Charles Bean".

Copyright Agency grants for writers

The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund is offering CREATE grants of between $10,000 and $20,000 to writers.

MPC recruits new sponsor

Recruitment agency Hope & Glory has joined the Melbourne Press Club as a sponsor

The 2017 MPC Lifetime Achievement Award

The club celebrated the career of business journalist extraordinaire Robert Gottliebsen

2017 Student Journalist of the Year announced

Carol Saffer of Monash University wins the Student Journalist prize

2017 Young Journalist of the Year winner

Cassie Zervos of the Herald Sun has won the MPC young journalist prize

2017 Australian Journalist of the Year: Finalists announced

See the shortlist for Australia's most prestigious media prize

2017 Australian Sports Journalist of the Year: Finalists announced

See the shortlist for the $10,000 prize in honour of legendary journalist and editor Harry Gordon

2017 Quill Awards finalists announced

See the shortlists for 29 Quill categories as well as the MPC Student Journalist of the Year

Quills entries close 1 February

Get your Quills submissions in! Entries close in less than two weeks.

Entries open for 2017 Quill Awards

Entries for the 2017 Perkin and Gordon national awards also open today

2017 event highlights

Look back at some of the Melbourne Press Club's 2017 events via a slideshow of photos

Membership: renew or join now to win movie passes

Your chance to win double passes to The Post - Steven Spielberg's new film about the Pentagon Papers

MPC elects new president

Senior Fairfax business journalist Adele Ferguson is the new president of the Melbourne Press Club.

Australian Media Hall of Fame launched

More than 50 NSW legends inducted at gala dinner

Laurie Oakes newest MPC life member

Veteran political journalist Laurie Oakes has been made a life member of the Melbourne Press Club.

Media Hall of Fame has new digital home

Website features all Victorian and NSW figured inducted to date

Media Legends of New South Wales

Twenty-eight pioneers inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame.

Young journalists report back on US conference

02 August 2017

2016 Quill Award winning Young and Student Journalists Bridget Judd and Tess Ikonomou, reported back on the International Reporters and Editors conference.

MPC members win flight prizes

Three members of the Melbourne Press Club have each won $1000 in travel credits with Virgin Australia.

AFL in new partnership deal with MPC

The Melbourne Press Club has a new corporate partner – the Australian Football League.

MPC expresses support for striking Fairfax journalists

The Press Club declares sympathy for journalists at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald who have called a week-long strike in the face of staff cuts.

MPC membership drive: $3000 in flights to be won

Join the Press Club, renew or maintain your membership for a chance to win one of three $1000 Virgin Australia flight credits.

Prize-winning young journos report back on US trip

The 2015 Melbourne Press Club YJOY and SJOY recall their time at the Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference

$20,000 raised for Asia Pacific media fund

The first Melbourne Press Freedom Dinner has raised over $20,000 to support media workers in hardship in the Asia-Pacific region.

Adele Ferguson wins the Gold Quill

An expose of the multi-million dollar financial advice scandal at the Commonwealth Bank has won Adele Ferguson the highest honour in Victorian journalism – the Monash Gold Quill.

National Aboriginal Press Club Hosts Victorian Event

New National Aboriginal Press Club will host Jill Gallagher AO and The Hon Gavin Jennings in Melbourne on 2 December

Nick McKenzie on Breaking Big Stories

Few people see the pressure investigative journalists face when breaking stories.

This is News Satire

Melbourne Press Club intern Cathryn Boyes dives into the world of Australian TV news satire.

Neos Kosmos: From New World to New Media

Neos Kosmos is an institution for Melbourne’s Greek community. As the paper moves from strength to strength, we look at how it began and what its future holds.

Podcast: The AFP Raids: What You Need to Know

Peter Bartlett, Adele Ferguson, and Paul Murphy discuss what this year's AFP raids on journalists mean for the industry.

Cassidy on the Decline of Political Moralities

RMIT to host conversation with former Insiders host

Steve Dunleavy dies aged 81

The colourful tabloid reporter worked for NY Post for four decades

Show revisits Judy Garland's ill-fated Australian tour

A former Age art director has turned a lifelong fascination with Judy Garland into a compelling stage show

Riverine Herald Shows the Way for Regional Journalism

Back-to-back Quill awards have highlighted the skills of a dynamic newspaper team in Echuca

Support the SLV Bruce Postle Archive Appeal

The State Library are fundraising to acquire the Bruce Postle photography archive

Vale Les Carlyon

Australian journalism has lost one of its greatest sons with the death of Les Carlyon

Vale Mike Willesee

Veteran broadcast journalist Mike Willesee has died after a long battle with throat cancer

Jailed Myanmar journalists: Families speak one year on

Today marks one year since two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar

Trump and Truth with Colombia’s Anya Schiffrin

Director of the Technology, Media & Comms specialization at Columbia University to give lecture at RMIT

Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar

UN Human Rights Commissioner condemns seven year sentence

How two young reporters shook Myanmar

An in-depth Reuters investigation into the charges against Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who are facing 14 years in prison in a case widely regarded as a trial of press freedom.

Vale Geoff Hook

The Herald Sun cartoonist passed away at 89 on 20 July

Vale Evan Whitton

One Australia's finest investigative journalists and editors has died at the age of 90

Jailed Myanmar reporters face trial decision

Two detained Reuters journalists have been detained in a Yangon jail since December

Greste alliance presses Canberra on rights

The Alliance for Journalists' Freedom calls for Australia to use its UN Human Rights Commission leverage as global press freedom trends downwards.

APJC appeals for volunteer professionals

If you’d like to help empower journalists in the Asia Pacific region, get involved in the work of Asia Pacific Journalism Centre

Vale Russell McPhedran

Photographer Russell McPhedran, whose image of a hooded Palestinian terrorist came to represent an era, has died, aged 82.

Press Council honours Greste and Ryle

Journalists Peter Greste and Gerard Ryle recognised on World Press Freedom Day

Barry Jones documentary honours Phil Chubb

Garry Sturgess' film about polymath Barry Jones, dedicated to the memory of his "dear friend" and mentor Phil Chubb, opens soon at Cinema Nova.

Vale Michael Gordon

Michael Gordon, a giant of Australian journalism and one of The Age's most loved, respected and lauded writers, has died at the age of 62.

The untold story of the Pentagon Papers co-conspirators

The full story behind the people responsible for the greatest leak in history, as portrayed in The Post.

"Journalists could go to jail for doing their jobs"

Australian media organisations express concern over proposed national security legislation

Vale Ron Tandberg

Legendary Age cartoonist passes away after brief battle with cancer.

Journalist Phillip Knightley dies in Britain

Sunday Times reporter Phillip Knightley has died in England, aged 87.

Number of jailed journalists at all-time high

2017 has seen a "dismal failure" by the international community to address a global crisis in freedom of the press, the CPJ says.

Press Council appoints new chair

The Australian Press Council has appointed former senior federal bureaucrat Neville Stevens as its new chair.

Vale Ken Inglis

Inglis was a "deft, careful and generous writer whose prose lit up any magazine or newspaper"

Vale John Hamilton

Legendary Herald Sun journalist and war historian John Hamilton has died after a long illness.

Streep praises media's dogged "bullshit detectives"

Academy Award winner speaks at the CPJ's International Press Freedom Awards

Vale Phil Chubb

Press Club Vice-President Phil Chubb, who passed away after a short but tenacious battle with cancer, was remembered at a memorial event on 15 November.

Press freedom plumbs fresh depths in Southeast Asia

The latest World Press Freedom Index highlights increasing insecurity for journalists working around Southeast Asia, writes Luke Hunt.

The Postles: Father & son's work in new exhibition

PRESS DYNASTY exhibition in Melbourne shows work of Bruce Postle and his press photographer father Cliff

Vale Peter Luck, Broadcast journalist and writer

"True pioneer of Australian TV journalism" Peter Luck remembered

Cambodia Daily closes, crackdown intensifies

Independent newspaper The Cambodia Daily closes as government crackdown worsens

Threatened closure of Cambodian paper a press freedom issue

The Overseas Press Club of Cambodia condemns "lack of due process" in government's threatened closure of paper over tax bill.

Vale John Allin

Long-time MPC member, journalist and public relations practitioner John Allin has died after an eight-week illness.

MEAA Timor-Leste press freedom fundraiser

Raimundos Oki narrowly avoided jail over an article he wrote about the Timor-Leste Prime Minister. Hear him speak about press freedom in Timor alongside John Milkins and Damien Kingsbury at the Trades Hall on 31 August.

Political cartooning - the end of an era

Newspaper cartoons are no longer major components of the central forum that they were in the era of mass media, Robert Phiddian and Haydon Manning write in The Conversation.

Legendary South Pacific reporter dies

Long-term PNG-based journalist Angus Smales has passed away aged 87.

Australian Press Council chair resigns

Australian Press Council chair David Weisbrot has announced his resignation after fierce media criticism of the Council's decision to appoint Indigenous activist Carla McGrath as a public member.

Columnist Mark Day calls it a day

Veteran journalist Mark Day has announced his retirement from daily journalism

Journalist Jill Singer has died

Melbourne journalist and broadcaster Jill Singer has died after a long career in television, radio and journalism education.

Mark Colvin dies aged 65

Respected ABC journalist, PM presenter and former foreign correspondent Mark Colvin has died after struggling with a rare auto-immune disease for over 20 years.

Life after redundancy

The latest round of Fairfax redundancies come as a huge blow to the industry. The New Beats research project looks at what's likely to come next for the staff who'll be leaving.

Graeme Johnstone address at Peter Isaacson memorial

Peter Isaacson memorial

Legendary independent publisher and World War II bomber pilot Peter Isaacson remembered.

MEAA releases 2017 Press Freedom Report

'The Chilling Effect' details numerous challenges, some old, some new, to the free operation of media in contemporary Australia

Press Council condemns Australian press freedom erosions

The Australian Press Council is calling on media to stand firm against the alarming erosion of access to information, privacy and protection of sources.

Feminist champion Mary Owen celebrated

Around 250 people turned out at Melbourne Tow Hall to remember former Press Club member Mary Owen OAM.

Australian Press Council scholarship to prepare freelancers for war zones

Applications sought for scholarship in hostile environments safety training

A seriously funny man: vale John Clarke

The death of John Clarke has robbed us of a comic genius

Panama Papers wins a Pulitzer Prize

The global Panama Papers investigation led by Australian journalist Gerard Ryle has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.

Pioneer of community journalism dies

Publisher Peter Isaacson has died, aged 96.

Press freedom is under attack, not least in Australia

The MEAA's Mike Dobbie paints a grim picture of the situation of the media worldwide in the lead-up to the alliance's annual press freedom report.

Vale Mary Owen, feminist champion and Club friend

Feminist, working women’s champion and Melbourne Press Club friend Mary Owen has died, aged 96.

What’s news? Not much…

Six O'Clock Advisory's Mitchell Hunt ponders our choices as consumers and publishers of news

Television pioneer Dan Webb dies

Television pioneer and spaghetti farm reporter Dan Webb has died, aged 92.

Cartoonist Bill Leak dies, aged 61

Cartoonist Bill Leak has died in hospital of a suspected heart attack.

Former MPC President Noel Tennison dies

Veteran journalist, raconteur, PR maestro and former Melbourne Press Club president Noel Tennison has died after a short illness.

Trevor Grant, sports writer and humanitarian, dies

Trevor Grant, one of the finest sports journalists of his generation and a relentless advocate for refugees, has died after a two-year battle with cancer.

Facebook to fact-check and adapt standards

Facebook signals change in approach to moderation and misinformation.

Should this image be photo of the year?

World Press Photo judge Stuart Franklin strongly opposed to the jury's choice of assassination image

Monash Vice Chancellor condemns Trump's order banning entry to Muslim migrants

Monash University VC Professor Margaret Gardner says the US President's action "threatens to impede our ability to support the diversity we champion".

Trump: Lies, damn lies and "alternative facts"

Donald Trump has launched his presidency with a declaration of war on the media and further brazen assaults on truth.

Trump's insults of journalists must be taken seriously

Alexandra Ellerbeck analyses the threats to journalism and press freedom posed by the incoming Trump administration.

Legendary WW2 correspondent dies at 105

Clare Hollingworth – the legendary British war correspondent who broke the news of the German invasion of Poland in 1939 – has died in Hong Kong at the age of 105.

Rinehart loses costs case against Adele Ferguson

A company owned by Gina Rinehart will have to pay Adele Ferguson's legal costs after the failed attempt to force her to reveal her sources for a book about the family.

Publisher and journalist found in contempt of court

Yahoo!7 and journalist Krystal Johnson found to have published prejudicial information that caused a murder trial to be aborted.

Former Age editor Greg Taylor dies

John Tidey pays tribute to the former Age editor and David Syme managing director.

Welcome to MPC's new digital home

A space to celebrate Victorian journalism and keep abreast of all the latest Club developments.

Fair dinkum race to the bottom

The immeasurable contribution of tens of thousands of Lebanese Muslims to our country is a story not told often enough by the mainstream media, writes Jim Stiliadis, of Six O'Clock Advisory.

Greste calls for repeal of 18C

Journalist Peter Greste has weighed in on section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, calling for "a free and untramelled media".

APC endorses European call for Facebook dialogue

As a global publisher in all but name, Facebook needs to review and reveal its editorial policy, the Australian Press Council says.

UN expert slams Australian secrecy laws

A UN special rapporteur has slammed the Australian government's secrecy laws and threats to whistleblowers and journalists in a recently released report.

MPC signs new sponsorship deal

The Melbourne Press Club has a new sponsor in dynamic communications consultancy Six O'Clock Advisory.

Journalists’ sources: free speech under attack

Journalists sources under attack, writes lawyer Justin Quill.

Winning streak continues for Adele Ferguson

Adele Ferguson named NSW Journalist of the Year.

Visiting editor sounds hopeful note on Egypt

If Peter Greste hadn't been arrested, most Australians would never have heard about the media crackdown in Egypt, according to Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah.

MPC student winner heading to Oxford

Former Melbourne Press Club Student Journalist of the Year Matt Pierri is headed to Oxford University after winning a Rhodes scholarship.

'Criminalising the Truth': 2016 MEAA press freedom report

On the MEAA 2016 press freedom report Criminalising the Truth, Suppressing the Right to Know

Australian ‘war on journalism': MEAA press freedom report

Inside the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance 2015 press freedom report.

Alexis Daish reports on the IRE conference in Philadelphia

2014 Young Journo of the Year Alexis Daish at the Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference.

Press Club urges support for Lindt Café memorial charity

The Melbourne Press Club is promoting support for the Katrina Dawson Foundation.

Four on shortlist for Journalist of the Year

A short list of four entrants has been announced for the 2014 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award.

Great news of Greste’s release

Journalists around the world have cheered the release after 400 days in Egyptian prisons of Australian journalist Peter Greste.

Harry Gordon Tribute

Harry Gordon, one of the greatest war correspondents, sports writers and newspaper editors of his generation has died at the age of 89.

New prize to honour Harry Gordon

The Melbourne Press Club will create a new national journalism prize – the Australian Sports Journalist of the Year Award – to honour Harry Gordon.

Greste and colleagues mark a year behind bars

Australian journalist Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed are still trapped in an Egyptian prison – a year after their arrest for doing their job as journalists.

Eileen Berry Trust to sponsor Press Club

The Melbourne Press Club has a new major media sponsor – The Eileen Berry Trust.

Press Club denies Greens exclusion

The Melbourne Press Club has denied a claim that Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber was excluded from the recent election debate on transport policy issues between State Transport Minister Terry Mulder and Shadow Minister Jill Hennessy.

Journalists’ voices must be heard not stolen: Thomson

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson has called on journalists to fight pomposity and content theft to ensure the future of their craft. Here is the prepared text of his address to the Melbourne Press Club’s 2014 Hall of Fame dinner on Friday, 10 October:

Journalists on first Anzac convoy remembered

A special commemoration was held in Melbourne on Sunday 19 October to mark the centenary of the first Victorian convoy to embark for World War I.

Hall of Fame to go national

The new Australian Media Hall of Fame will be formed as soon as possible with the support of industry leaders in other states and territories.

Melbourne’s first newspaper back in print

The Melbourne Press Club has reprinted Melbourne’s first newspaper as part of the establishment of the Victorian Media Hall of Fame.

Obama and Abbott press for Peter Greste’s release

US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott have personally urged the release of jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste in meetings with Egypt’s leader.

Press Club gains new sponsor

One of the newest players in Melbourne’s media scene, Mediaxpress, has signed up as a sponsor of the Melbourne Press Club.

Journalism No Crime

Australian journalist Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera English colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been jailed in Egypt in an outrageous assault on press freedom and the cornerstone of democracy: the right to free speech.

Statement by Michael Rowland, President of the Press Club

The Melbourne Press Club deplores the jail sentences imposed on Australian journalist Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues.

Les Carlyon awarded an AC

Editor, historian and racing writer Les Carlyon has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday honours.

Greste says jailing sends global message on freedoms

Australian journalist Peter Greste has declared his detention with al-Jazeera colleagues in an Egyptian jail is a powerful symbol of press freedom worldwide.

John Kiely’s novel approach to the world of journalism

Lifetime Melbourne journalist John Kiely has written a fiction novel Press Gang about, yes, the dramatic life of a journalist — exposing political corruption, sex crime, the perils of covering a foreign battle, internal newspaper intrigue, and of course his own love life and family difficulties.

Wilson wins Australian Journalist of Year award

Veteran football writer Caroline Wilson of The Age won the 2013 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award, the richest prize in journalism, for her outstanding coverage of the Essendon Football Club’s drugs scandal.

Journalists jailed then bailed as Thai court hears defamation charges

Taking a stand against attempts to silence the media in Thailand, former Age and News Limited senior journalist Alan Morison spent five hours in a small prison cell crowded with 90 prisoners, including a man who admitted killing his girlfriend.

Chris Reason wins Graham Perkin Award

Seven News senior reporter Chris Reason won Australia’s richest journalism prize for his outstanding coverage of the Lindt Café siege.

Aliyah Stotyn wins 2013 Student Journalist of the Year

The 2013 Student Journalist of the Year is Aliyah Stotyn from Melbourne University. The award, presented by The Melbourne Press Club and sponsored by the Vizard Foundation, was announced at the Club’s annual Quill Awards dinner on Friday, 21 March.

Secret Tapes Expose wins Herald Sun Top Victorian Journalism Award

The publication of secret tapes revealing deep divisions within the state government which led to the downfall of Premier Ted Baillieu, has won Herald Sun reporter James Campbell, Victoria’s top journalism prize—the $5000 Monash University Gold Quill.

Australian editor and partner face jail in Thailand

Former senior Age editor and News Corp journalist Alan Morison says he has been overwhelmed by support he has received over a defamation lawsuit launched by the Royal Thai Navy, including from supporters in Melbourne.

Read all about it: 525 defunct papers in Melbourne CBD!

On the launch of Melbourne Sirius

Media shield survives Rinehart’s opening barrage

Let there be no confusion. Journalists’ sources are under unprecedented challenge. In 2007 we saw two Herald Sun reporters convicted of contempt of court for refusing to disclose sources.

Legal Update for Journalists - 2013 Press Freedom Report

Melbourne Press Club committee member and senior partner at Minter Ellison, Peter Bartlett, has written a review of events in media law as part of the 2013 Walkley Press Freedom Report. Here is his summary of how media law is developing.

The truth about online news

We hear so much about the imminent death of traditional media. Newspapers being replaced by online sites and TV reporters overtaken by so called video journalists. But I’m urging people, don’t be so quick to happily bang that final nail into the coffin and immediately jump ship to online sites. By far the best results for businesses are seen when they’re featured in a print article in a daily or a TV story during a 6pm bulletin.

‘Babes’ bite back: there’s no glamour in TV news

In a recent article, retired scribe Geoffrey Barker lambasted perky, blonde reporters for dumbing down television journalism. Not surprisingly, the ‘news babes’ in his sights were unimpressed, not to mention insulted and angry.

Redundancies herald a new age

Like so many in Melbourne’s media, Seven News reporter Kate Osborn was shocked when people she’d admired and worked alongside began snapping up redundancies. The loss of experience was impossible to fathom. So, a few months on, how has the industry fared? And what hope remains for the future and those of us left?

Shedding light on the dark side

There are times in most journalists’ careers when they glance over the fence at the greener grass of public relations and wonder what it would be like to jump. Former Seven News reporter Alicia Hall switched teams eighteen months ago, and offers valuable perspective.