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March 2024: Walkleys drop Ampol sponsorship deal
Australia’s premier journalism awards, the Walkleys, have announced they are ending their long term sponsorship deal with petroleum company, Ampol.
It comes after the awards were boycotted by top cartoonists and journalists over the sponsorship arrangement.
The Walkleys has also announced a new sponsorship policy which states; ‘The Foundation does not accept money from companies or individuals that it deems to pose a significant reputational risk due to the nature of their dealings that offer no tangible benefit to humanity.’
Comms Declare Founder, Belinda Noble said “This is a significant step for our media and wider society in dealing with the new reality that fossil fuels are doing more harm than good.“
“We are very grateful to the Foundation and the brave cartoonists and journalists that publicly stood up against fossil fuel influence peddling.“
“Coal, oil and gas companies are a reputational risk to anyone that helps promote them, and that risk will only grow as the climate becomes more unstable.”
November 2023: 43 Walkley luminaries sign open letter, following protests over Walkley’s Ampol sponsorship deal
Some of Australia’s top journalists are calling on the Walkley Foundation for Journalism to protect the profession’s standing by ruling out fossil fuel sponsors. The Foundation supports great Australian journalism with a yearly awards.
In an open letter, the winners and finalists, including three Gold Walkley winners, asked the Foundation to:
- establish a climate reporting award
- agree to not renew its sponsorship arrangement with Ampol
- commit to declining any new sponsorship arrangement with a coal, oil, or gas company.
It comes after a mass pull out of Walkley award applicants, led by Cartoonist Jon Kudelka, because of Ampol’s sponsorship of the awards.
Gold Walkley winner and media freedom advocate, Peter Greste, said “One of the most important tenets of journalism is its independence of commercial or political interests. With that in mind it’s hard to see how the Walkleys can uphold those principles while also taking sponsorship from oil and gas companies. And in cases like these, the appearance of independence matters as much as the reality. If the public thinks the awards are influenced by the sponsors, they lose their value and integrity. That’s why I have signed the petition.”
Climate communications group, Comms Declare, wrote to the Walkley’s with concerns about the Ampol sponsorship in February 2023, and sent the Foundation an open letter from previous winners in November.
Belinda Noble’s article about the sponsorship deal in Mumbrella inspired Jon Kudelka to be the first to boycott the awards.
Comms Declare Founder, Belinda Noble said, “Just like tobacco, fossil fuel companies are using sponsorships as a reputational fig leaf – allowing them to curry favour while profiting from products that are damaging our health and climate. Fossil fuel sponsorships are not charity, they’re influence peddling, and our most prestigious journalism awards need to be above that.”
Read more at Comms Declare.
