Flavio  Brancleone won the 2025 Kennedy Award for the most outstanding news photograph with the same photo also winning the People’s Choice Award. It was an unusual and candid photo of Pope Francis lying in-state  at the Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel that broke all the rules. Flavio is a freelancer born in Rome who has made Australia his home for the last 12 years. His approach to his craft and how he got that photo are a great story in themselves.

Mark Morri is The Daily Telegraph's Crime Editor and an old fashioned journalist thrown into the turbulent waters of the digital revolution. Not only has he survived but he’s flourished becoming one of our best and most recognisable crime reporters. His is a world of tattooed big guys, shootings and blacked out Mercedes. He now leads a bunch of young and keen reporters, he has much to teach them and us, and we also have much to learn.

Joanna Woodburn was born in Scotland, raised, on a farm near Forbes in NSW, went back to Scotland, then back to Australia to finally settle in the NSW country town of Orange where her work and distinctive vocal twang have made her a popular figure in the region. In the 2025 Kennedy Awards Joanna won the prize for the best Regional Broadcast story about failures at the Orange Hospital.

Chris Reason is one of our most well-known and respected reporters. The word ‘reporter’ and its role in journalism has been somewhat forgotten, but Reason’s work reminds us of how important it is in the craft of great journalism.