GARETH PARKER NAMED JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Nine Perth’s commitment to quality journalism has been recognised by the judges of the WA
Media Awards, with 9News Perth, WAtoday and 6PR taking out a mammoth ten categories at
Saturday night’s prestigious event.

6PR Breakfast presenter Gareth Parker won several awards, including the top award for WA
Journalist of the Year for his bombshell exposé highlighting conflicts of interest and cronyism
exposing the lax Government supervision of WA’s only casino. Parker was also awarded Best
Political Report, Best Business, Economics or Finance Report, and Best Columnist. The
judges made mention of the way Parker used his cross-platform presence to spark debate,
accountability and speak to West Australian’s about why they should care.

6PR Content Manager, Emily White congratulated Parker, saying

“Gareth’s awards are fantastic recognition, not just of the work he puts in to keep 6PR’s listeners informed about issues that affect them, this city and the broader state, but also the work he has put in over the last 15 plus years building his career and credibility across multiple mediums.

“We’re thrilled Gareth has also been recognised for his contributions across the Nine family
with both WAtoday and 9News.”

9News Perth’s Gary Adshead and Kamin Gock were awarded Best Television News Report
and Best Health/Medical Report for their work covering the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya
Ashwath. Her death at Perth’s revered children’s hospital was not only a personal tragedy; it
laid bare WA’s struggling hospital systems.

9News Perth Director of News, Michael Best, congratulated the teams on their well-earned
win.

“We’re immensely proud; the awards are recognition for the entire newsroom because these stories aren’t produced in isolation. It’s fantastic to see that all the hard work and the collaboration between 9News Perth, 6PR and WAToday is making an impact and being recognised,” he said.

“More important than the awards is the fact that a disgraceful situation that claimed a young
girl’s life was exposed. Change is already happening, and Aishwarya’s parents are leading
the drive to ensure other West Australian children receive the care they should.”

WAtoday also received several accolades with reporter Emma Young’s “Another plan bites
the dust as WA’s best-loved bird quietly dies out” wining the Science and Environmental
Report Prize. Her ground-breaking work investigated important environmental issues for the
Perth and Peel regions, highlighting the heavy cost of environment inaction in the process.

WAtoday’s Marta Pascual Juanola’s “Wrong skin’ tragedy: death, drugs and violence in a
divided town” won the Best Social Equity Report and Best Feature Writing Report. Juanola’s
harrowing account of a night in a young lady’s life, tragically cut short at the hands of another,
stood out for it’s beautiful storytelling, sensitivity, and depth.

Also, WAtoday reporter Aja Styles won The Arthur Lovekin Award “Stink from the Corpse” for
placing the WA higher education sector under the spotlight. Styles investigated the threats
posed to academic freedom, quality education and WA’s research culture by COVID, due to
chronic mismanagement and the loss of government funding.

WAtoday Editor, Daile Cross, is immensely proud of her team’s achievements, saying “The
journalists working at WAtoday are dedicated to high quality reporting in the public interest.
We have the State’s top reporters writing for us and these awards demonstrate our
commitment to the truth, willingness to take on tough subjects and strength in news reporting,
feature writing and opinion.

“Together with 9News Perth and 6PR we are a formidable force in news and look forward to
bringing the community more important stories.”

For Further information, please contact:
Peter Brennan
Program, Marketing and Communications Manager, Nine   
pebrennan@nine.com.au

Monday November 15, 2021