Walkley win for CDU student-lecturer team

A Charles Darwin University (CDU) journalism student and her lecturer have been named co-recipients of a prestigious Walkley Award following their months-long investigation into the NT’s school system.

Student Tilda Colling, lecturer and freelance journalist Kylie Stevenson, and University of Queensland digital journalism lecturer Caroline Graham won the All Media: Coverage of Indigenous Affairs category at the 69^th Walkley Awards for their published work in The Australian.

Ms Colling said she was currently studying a Bachelor of Arts (Communications, Literature and Digital Media) and had been given a number of incredible opportunities throughout her studies at CDU.

“When I started university, I didn’t know what I wanted – I knew I wanted to write and that was it,” she said.

“It feels like I’ve walked into a utopia and I’m shocked by the opportunities I’ve had at such a young age.

“It was incredible to win a Walkley Award. It felt like our hard work had paid off and the story was given the recognition it deserved.”

The ‘NT Schools in Crisis’ investigation focused on remote education in the Territory and the impact of funding shortfalls on disadvantaged students.

The project received a Meta Australian News Fund grant, which helped the group travel to remote communities in West Arnhem, East Arnhem, Groote Eylandt, and Central Australia.

“As an Indigenous person working on this project, it was an incredible and heartbreaking experience all at once,” Ms Colling said.

Ms Stevenson said the chance to collaborate with Ms Colling on the year-long investigation came not from a project affiliated with CDU, but from the connections she has been able to form with her students.

She taught Ms Colling in the university’s Writing, Journalism, and Media Ethics unit, which Ms Stevenson has led for the past three years.

“Enthusiastic students like Tilda make me excited for the future of journalism, and CDU students are particularly enthusiastic to give things a crack,” Ms Stevenson said.

“The NT is uniquely placed to give students these really great experiences in the fields they want to work in.”

The investigation previously won the Best Online Coverage, Pete Davies Memorial Campaigning Journalism, Indigenous Affairs Reporting awards at the NT Media Awards, where they were jointly named the 2024 NT Journalists of the Year.