Joanna Woodburn

2025 Kennedy Award winner for Outstanding Regional Broadcast Reporting - The Paul Lockyer Award

Joanna Woodburn was born in Scotland, raised on a farm near Forbes in NSW, went back to Scotland, then back to Australia. Joanna finally settled in the NSW country town of Orange where her work and distinctive vocal twang 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.

Joanna moved from the metropolis of Sydney to Orange - was it a backward career move or a happier life?

Joanna: “Initially, I did miss the hustle and bustle of the Sydney newsroom because in those days it was the national news desk as well. So you got to do NSW state stories but also national stories when they were commissioned. So you get to do quite a range of stories with higher profiles. It's more exciting and feeds your ego as a journalist. But I love the lifestyle in Orange and I'm not really restricted to what I'm able to do out here, which is quite nice. I mean, I'm not doing nightly TV news anymore, but I'm getting to do investigative stuff, which I really enjoy.”

Going back in time, why did you decide to become a journalist?

Joanna: “I can't remember exactly when but at school I loved English and I loved writing and if there were newspaper, you know, a school newspaper I got involved in that. I also love public speaking, which is, I appreciate, quite unusual because most people are terrified of public speaking but I quite enjoyed telling stories.

My dad was big into public speaking and all of that sort of thing back when he was a young guy in Scotland, so I think I absorbed some of that interest from him and so the natural progression was journalism and I actually don't remember wanting to do anything else.

Back when I graduated from school, I think you had to pick six universities or courses. You had to have, one to six of where you'd like to go. And all of mine were journalism, bar one. I still love telling stories and I love finding out things and talking to people.”

But what cheeses you off the most about the job?

Joanna: “The distrust that's out there, the criticism of my profession; it's all part and parcel with being a journalist. I get that but it is a bit frustrating to have to argue for our spot in the media; because there's so much more to what we do as journalists that is so important. Trying to explain sometimes who we are, we're not somebody's friend, we're there to report a story as impartially and objectively and as fairly as possible. Sometimes it frustrates me, with our position in society and the lack of understanding of what we're trying to do in order to do our job.”

Why do you think there is a lack of understanding about we do and why we do it?

Joanna: “I think it's to some degree just ignorance. Ignorance can be an ugly word. I don't mean that they're ignorant in a silly way or a learned way but more just not really understanding what we do. We’re often seen as ‘the media’ not journalists and the media these days includes all those commentators with opinions, who don’t do a fraction of the work required of journalists in building and preparing a story.

We're trained observers, aren't we? And we're trained fact checkers, even the most simplest of stories, the fact checking that we do and the process that we have to go through or that we do go through, in order to get a story up, whether that be for digital or television or radio, whether it's a 40 second copy grab for the radio news or a long investigative piece. I don't think there is quite the understanding, which is fair. Nobody understands every role we that we have to do to get it the across the line and on air or online.”

Do you think part of the problem here is that our profession has repeatedly failed to explain to the public what it is we do and why it is so important to a healthy democratic society?

Joanna: “To some degree I think we're getting better at that because recently, we, the collective media as in traditional media, have been required to justify our existence alongside the new breed of media that's coming through. They are the untrained, fact- less opinions and claims on social media platforms. It’s often a world where research, evidence and the empirical are not given the same attention.

We're probably a bit late to the party in justifying our existence as the distrust seems to have overtaken that to some degree. It's harder to justify our position or carve out our position or maintain our position more to the case.

We're trained, aren't we?  Trained at the fact checking and finding the stories and how they need to be crafted. And so when people do brand themselves or identify as a journalist and they're not necessarily a trained or experienced journalist, then that can potentially damage our brand or our industry, absolutely.

Add to that, just the slow, slow erosion of resources and sometimes mistakes are made. With the number of younger journalists there seems to be quite a high turnover. I see this, not just in the ABC but in all regional broadcasting. Also in regional newsprint there seems to be a higher turnover of journalists. I see a lot of them actually leaving the industry because I think the workload has increased exponentially without any commensurate reward. When I joined, you were either a radio journo or you're a TV journo and it was a very distinctive role. I was in radio and then I moved into doing radio and television, but now we're radio, TV, digital and social media - four platforms that you're having to think about at any given time and there's still only seven to eight hours in your shift.”

Why do you think the distrust you talk about has probably increased so exponentially ?

Joanna: “There are some very ‘loud’ voices who cultivate and spread distrust of the traditional media because they don’t like being fact-checked or held to account. These voices can have quite an impact on impressionable people; people who are already cheesed off with what’s happening to them or to the world. There’s also an increasing amount of agenda journalism that seems to ignore objectivity.

Accuracy is paramount. A wise old sub once told me “it’s better to be second to a story and be right, than first and be wrong”.

When I worked in TV and doing investigations or as a foreign correspondent, joining me the very least were, a cameraman and sound recorder and fairly often on investigations or multi story trips a producer as well.

Joanna: “Often there are fewer hands on deck to prepare and produce a story – a journalist can be their own camera person and producer. Sound recordists are also a rare find nowadays, so you're actually covering off on all of those platforms now. To compromise on quality, by the time you get to the end of the day, if you're on a big story, you're absolutely pooped by the end of it.”

Does all this have an effect on the quality of output?

Joanna: “I'm probably one of the older ones in this Bureau now and the younger journalists don’t have the time to bed down the foundations in writing and news gathering before being sent into the field.”

How did you come by your Kennedy Awards winning story?

Joanna: “I had received a phone call from a local MP actually asking about something that they'd heard on the radio that day. It was actually a standard story whereby the Bureau of Health Information releases hospital performance figures once a quarter and the MP’s office rang me and said, oh, Joanna, I've just heard  such and such on the radio, what's that about?

I said, oh, it's standard, they released them once a quarter and I said why are you asking? They said we've been contacted regarding some concerns about a local health service and we've put some questions on notice to the state parliament. I said, do you mind, can I ask what those questions were?

They shared with me the information and I said, well, listen, that person who came forward and is concerned, if you wanted to pass on my number to them, I'd be happy to take a phone call and have a chat. It went from there. It was the director of surgery who subsequently was interviewed for the story and was the whistleblower, Doctor Robert Knox. We had some very sort of ‘secret squirrel’ meetings for me to find out more. In the initial meeting, I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, there's so much here how, do I even begin to sort it out?” The allegations that were being made were pretty serious that basically cancer surgeries were being intentionally delayed to meet hospital waiting-time lists. So that's how it started. It was a chance phone call and just good contacts.”

How long did you spend on that story before publication?

Joanna: “About two months. So it wasn't a long, long time but it wasn't a quick turnaround. I initially spoke to the surgeon, as I mentioned and asked for any information that they could share with me; documents that could verify what they were saying. Now that took a bit because a lot of it obviously is highly sensitive medical information. So I needed a lot of approvals for people to be comfortable for me to see certain information.

There was a lot of reading to be able to execute it as accurately as I can and impartially as I can, talking to lots of other doctors largely on background, who had their own issues, their own examples, to patients as well. The patient who subsequently agreed to talk was very brave. I mean, she'd gone through breast cancer and getting a lot of her documents took a long time. I've worked with 7:30 (ABC TV) before, so when I pitched it to them, they were very keen. Once I knew my platform as well, I knew where I needed to go with it and what I needed to do. The doctors had been raising concerns for months and I saw the evidence to prove that and yet Management was saying no, it's fine, don't worry. All I could think of was imagine if that was your mother or father or grandparent or whatever, a relative or friend who was meant to have their surgery within a set number of days to catch a cancer and hopefully deal with it or wait several weeks and it’s now become inoperable.”

You said earlier your particular love of our profession is investigations. Why investigations opposed to, for instance flower shows and the trots?

Joanna: “Yes, well, they all have their place. Don't get me wrong, I love local news and I've done local and state news - I did it for years, but I just reached the point after all the hourly deadlines or daily deadlines where I was ready to take a pause and get into something a bit deeper.  I've been doing this investigations role for about 18 months. I quite like the marathon rather than the sprint.  I'm quite lucky in my role at the moment. I get to do the marathons, but I get to do the odd sprint as well, just to scratch that itch of the adrenaline of a quick turnaround.

My brain's quite detailed oriented. I'm not very good at big picture stuff. I do like the minute data or the minute information. I enjoy investigations because I enjoy getting into the weeds.”

Why do you love journalism?

Joanna: “ I love writing. I love telling a story but I also really enjoy bringing things to the surface that have been skated over or have been silenced. So just shining a light on what's actually happening and not allowing things to be glossed over or hidden. It’s about fairness if something's wrong or if somebody is being subjected to a wrong or a harm, then it should be fixed. Yes, solutions journalism.”

The 2025 Kennedy Award wasn’t your first?

Joanna: “I've won a couple of Kennedys actually. My first Kennedy was for investigation into asbestos in regional NSW and then another was for issues with the Rural Fire Service - distrust of the Rural Fire Service within regional communities.”

A bit like winning the Bathurst Car race three times?

Joanna: “Yes, well, it's almost as good as Bathurst. No, I would say it was better than that because it's named after Paul Lockyer. I used to watch him on the TV when I was a younger journalist and marvel at how he could tell a story.

I think some journalists feel they haven't made it until they've worked in a metro newsroom. Whereas Paul Lockyer really managed to celebrate those regional stories, in a way that I don't think many have done before.”

As a previous winner how did it feel when your name was read again, this year?

Joanna: “I was a bit shocked, actually. I was proud of the story and I thought it was very strong, not because of my work, but because of the voices of the two doctors. I didn't think I would win as I was up against ABC colleagues down at Bega, who'd done a cracking job on a missing hiker. I'm so glad the Kennedys doesn't have thank you speeches anymore, because I wouldn't have known what to say.”

What’s next?

Joanna: “I'm now working down my list of where I'm at with other stories that story has spawned. There are a few others about people who've experienced similar things and surgeons who've experienced issues with surgical wait -lists. I'm still sort of mopping up some of those stories. I try and have one or two bigger stories running at any given time while doing research on two or three others in the background.”

What’s your advice to young aspiring journalists?

Joanna: “I wouldn't  be able to do what I am doing today without some of the older journalists taking the time back when I was a baby journo, who couldn't write my way out of a wet paper bag and it was just a bit crap, really. Those people who took time to sub my scripts, who give me feedback and showed me how to find stories and how to talk to people. I had a very scary chief reporter in Glasgow called Lorraine and she was from Northern Ireland and she was terrifying. She was also brilliant so there were no limits to my learning. She was old school who could file her stories without having written them. She would file them over the phone. That's how she was poached to radio. She's incredible and I think she now runs the network in Scotland. I was also very lucky to have largely male editors, who were very respectful and very encouraging and very supportive. They weren't rude and they weren’t bullies but they were blunt and called a spade a shovel.”

What other advice would you give?

 Joanna: “I always say to people, if they're a bit unsure about talking to me or doing a story, I say to them, well, if I screw you over or if I don't report it accurately or respectfully; you'll never talk to me and that won't do me any favours. We also live and die by our contacts, that's pretty much how most of my bigger stories have come about in recent years. It's people calling me because I've spoken to them before or they’ve been recommended to talk to me by somebody else, so the reputation is very important. They may not like what I've reported but if it's fair and accurate, then hopefully they'll talk to me again.

Get the foundations right to begin with and then the busy days and the stresses and the challenges shouldn't feel as insurmountable. If you can find a senior reporter or a mentor, who you trust and is experienced and is really helpful -bleed them for all they're worth ! That's certainly what I did. Nail the foundations and then all the other stuff will come. Don't try and win any races before you get that sorted.”

What are your thoughts about journalism, the woke world and its agenda ?

Joanna: “I fear the craft is being lost to some degree because it's all about the next deadline or how many clicks to that story or some external pressure concerned with language and social agendas, opposed to really nailing the foundations of writing beautiful copy and crafting a great visual story.

If you've got the foundations, you can nail any platform, can't you. We're not paying enough attention to the foundations and worrying more about the meaning of a word or all sorts of other social agendas.”