Professional development for journalists

Your safety and wellbeing 

Improved reporting on violence against women is vital to creating change. It also raises important safety and wellbeing concerns for the journalists and editors involved. 

Your safety 

Some journalists with high-profile roles reporting on violence against women experience backlash, including threats and online trolling, as well as physical violence. This video looks at increasing safety for journalists who report on violence against women. 

Vicarious trauma 

Journalists who are routinely exposed to stories of violence and abuse may experience vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is the cumulative effect of working with trauma, which can affect many aspects of a person’s life. It may consist of short-term reactions, or longer-term effects that continue long after the work has finished.  

The video below has advice for dealing with vicarious trauma.  

Our Watch Award 

The Our Watch Award for excellence in reporting on violence against women and children improves the quality of reporting on by building awareness of gender inequality as a key driver of this violence. 

Our Watch has been recognising and rewarding excellence in reporting on violence against women and children since 2015, initially through the Our Watch Awards which were administered by the Walkley Foundation. Since 2019 onwards the Our Watch Award has been presented as a part of the Walkley Mid-Year Celebration. 

2024 winner 

The 2024 Our Watch Award winners are Jessica Lodge, Melissa Downes, and Adam Buncher from Nine Entertainment Co. for Hannah’s Story, an in-depth investigation into the murders of Hannah Clarke and her three children. 

Find more information on the winners of the 2024 Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism.

Past winners

2023, Richard Willingham, ABC for a series of stories shining a light on victims of sexual assault being forced to wait for forensic examination due to doctor shortages.  

2022, Bethany Atkinson-Quinton and Madison Griffiths for Broadwave, Tender: Roia Atmar published on Broadwave Pods. 

2021, Samantha Maiden, news.com.au, for a series focused on allegations of rape in Parliament House.  

2020, Nina Funnell for the Let Her Speak series of articles, published in news.com.au. 

2019, Sarah Dingle and the Background Briefing Team, Radio National, ABC for Australia On Trial: Carers who kill, Slavery in the suburbs, Murder on Trial. 

Find out more 

Visit the Walkley Foundation website for more information on the Award, including how to apply and winners from previous years. 

Training for journalists and media professionals

Media Making Change – news reporting training on violence against women

Media Making Change newsroom training on violence against women is for journalists and media professionals across Australia looking to better understand best practice approaches to preventing violence against women.

This training provides participants with an introductory overview of violence against women, including what drives it and the media’s role in preventing it. It includes tips and participatory exercises on evidence-based framing and language, relevant sources and help lines, as well as culturally safe reporting.

The training packages run for 75 minutes, or 90 minutes, and can be delivered online or in person.

Information sessions for editors and managers

Get a concise overview of how Our Watch can support you and your teams to:

• strengthen reporting on violence against women
• access information on available training and resources
• learn how Our Watch can support media executives in creating safer, more gender-equitable workplaces
• connect with Our Watch’s Media Relations team for expert commentary, interviews, and background information.  

How do I access the training? 

To access the training or request an information session, contact Our Watch.

Our Watch Fellowship 

The Our Watch Fellowship Program is a prestigious leadership opportunity that offers journalists the chance to learn best-practice reporting on violence against women, sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace and build on their knowledge on gender inequality. 

Through a series of retreats, Fellows: 

• deepen their knowledge of violence against women and its prevention 
• build their capacity to report on and understand sexual harassment and violence against women in the workplace 
• engage in conversations with peers, veteran and award-winning journalists, and violence against women experts on the challenges and opportunities for advancing journalism on this topic 
• develop skills in understanding and reporting on the complexities of sexual harassment and violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women with disabilities, migrant and refugee women and women who experience multiple forms of discrimination 
• discuss trauma-informed approaches to interviewing 

• understand common challenges, pitfalls and stumbling blocks to best-practice reporting, and develop practical techniques for producing more nuanced stories 
• build skills to support colleagues and newsrooms to engage in best-practice reporting 
• support Our Watch to deliver a learning session in their own newsroom on best-practice reporting of violence against women to share the learnings of the Fellowship with colleagues. 

Read about previous Our Watch Fellowships delivered in partnership with the Walkley Foundation: Fellows from 2019, Fellows from 2021 or the Fellows from 2022 here. 

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