Journalist Richard Guilliatt resigns from Walkley awards board after critic wins reporting prize

Richard Guilliatt has resigned from the Walkleys judging board after a prize was awarded for reports that were critical of his podcast Shadow of Doubt. Illustration: The Australian View image in fullscreen Richard Guilliatt has resigned from the Walkleys judging board after a prize was awarded for reports that were critical of his podcast Shadow of Doubt. Illustration: The Australian Journalist Richard Guilliatt resigns from Walkley awards board after critic wins reporting prize Exclusive: Resignation comes after abuse survivor said she was devastated her father, who was jailed for 48 years, was interviewed for the Shadow of Doubt podcast Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The journalist Richard Guilliatt has resigned from the Walkley awards judging board after the Walkley Foundation dismissed complaints about his podcast and then handed an award to the journalist whose reports were critical of him. Nina Funnell won a mid-year Walkley for freelance journalist of the year for a series of three articles in news.com.au about a survivor of sexual assault who was abused by her own parents for 14 years. The articles included allegations that Guilliatt’s podcast for The Australian had devastated her because the veteran journalist interviewed her parents in jail and the podcast, titled Shadow of Doubt, suggested the case could be a “grave miscarriage of justice”. Australian Jewish News removes article criticising treatment of Jewish Council’s Sarah Schwartz | Weekly Beast Read more “On June 18, the Foundation announced that a Mid-Year Media Prize had been awarded to the misleading reporting which had prompted the complaints about my work,” Guilliatt told Guardian Australia. “I regarded that decision as indefensible and I resigned as a Walkley judge in a letter to Walkley Foundation CEO Shona Martyn on June 26.” The complaints were submitted by people who read Funnell’s reporting which alleged the podcast accessed notes from the survivor’s counselling and psychiatric treatment. One of the dismissed complaints seen by Guardian Australia said Guilliatt presented an “extremely biased” view and described the series as a “gutter podcast”. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Martyn wrote to the complainants to say the board was not in a position to “make editorial assessments about the journalism of individual judges” and “no further action will be taken in relation to Mr Guilliatt’s position on the judging board”. Guilliatt told Martyn he was pleased with her “sensible decision” to take no action against him. But he immediately tendered his resignation because he was “dismayed that the Walkley Foundation Mid-Year Media Prize judges have awarded a prize to the misleading media reports which precipitated the complaints against me”. Funnell told Guardian Australia that Guilliatt’s claim of errors and misrepresentations in her reporting was wrong. “We have not made any corrections, nor do we have any need to,” she said. Martyn c