Kennedy Awards 2022: Kate McIlwain, Sylvia Liber named as finalists in major journalism awards

Journalist Kate McIlwain and photographer Sylvia Liber have been shortlisted among a star-studded field of finalists.

McIlwain's coverage of the state of the health system in Wollongong was acknowledged in the The Chris Watson Award for Regional Journalism - Print and Online category.

The package, called "Inside a collapsing health system", detailed the fundamental failures from within the local health district.

From a mother's anguish after her desperately ill newborn was turned away from the emergency department after a five-hour wait; to the fed-up doctor who called out the "dangerous" conditions facing his patients, McIlwain shared their experiences with readers.

She also delved into Bureau of Health Information statistics to explain how the region's health system coped during the peak of the Omicron wave.

Less than three weeks later McIlwain exclusively reported on the next stage of the crisis when the health district plunged into "circuit-breaker" mode in an attempt to arrest the system overload.

Her final awards submission was another exclusive, this time speaking with exhausted nurses who shared their horror stories.

McIlwain will go head-to-head with ACM stablemate, the Newcastle Herald, in this category.

The team north of Sydney is a finalist for its extensive series on the pursuit of a just energy transition for the Hunter communities built upon the bedrock of the coal industry.

Photographer Sylvia Liber, a serial award-winner, returned to a familiar watery environment for her awards entry.

She explained to the judges the thought process behind her submission: "Chris Homer wanted to make the transition from community activist to politician and I wanted to portray him as authentically as possible.

"He managed to pull off the unwinnable mayoral election when he was declared the winner over the incumbent, Labor's Marianne Saliba.

"I saw this as an opportunity to create a photo essay that visually communicates how the new mayor of Shellharbour wanted to be seen, which was 'more of a leader and less like a politician' and at the same time capture images nobody previously had."

Mercury photographic colleague Anna Warr is also through to a final, but this ward is decided by the public.

Warr's photo from a mudbath that doubled as a game of football is included in The Power of the Lens : The Peoples Choice Award. You can vote here.

The awards organisers said this year's finalists reflected "the incredibly high standard of entries which augers well for the health of our media industry given the obstacles of digital disruption and pandemic we have all faced over the last two years".

The winners will be announced at a gala slated for Sydney's Royal Randwick racecourse on August 12.