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Laurie Oakes to be inducted into Logie Hall of Fame

Honours at the Walkley and the Quills and now Nine's political editor Laurie Oakes is being recognised for his decades of TV journalism.

Channel Nine Political Editor Laurie Oakes will be inducted into the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame on May 1st.

The honour caps off a glorious 12 months for the veteran journalist, who picked up a Gold Walkley Award, the 2010 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award at the Quill Awards and landing at least two major scoops during the 2010 election campaign.

Oakes, 67, has worked in the Canberra Press Gallery since 1966 and on television since joining Willesee on Seven in the 1970s. In 1979 he joined TEN and worked there for five years.

He recently announced he would step down from his weekend “Oakes Report” on Nine’s Today show, which began on Sunday back in 1981. But the veteran journo has no intention of retiring just yet.

“I genuinely find it very exciting, I am overwhelmed. I can barely believe it. I am in TV and this is about the biggest accolade you can get. I am chuffed,” he told The Australian.

“If you look down the list of recipients you see names like Hector Crawford, Paul Hogan, Graham Kennedy, Garry McDonald, Bruce Gyngell, and it feels weird because all these people are legends and I don’t feel like that.

“But there are a few journos: cameraman Neil Davis, Mike Willesee, Brian Naylor. I’ve been on TV for more than 30 years, since 1979, so I suppose I belong in the TV camp.”

It is the first Logie he has won, but it could be quite a night -Oakes is also nominated for Most Outstanding News Coverage for “Laurie Oakes Election Leaks” (Nine News). Oakes had received inside information that Julia Gillard had reneged on a deal with Kevin Rudd about a leadership challenge, and that she had opposed paid parental leave and pension rises.

Les Carlyon, the chair of the Quill Awards judging panel, recently said, “Laurie Oakes last year did something few journalists ever do. He broke two stories that not only changed the course of a federal election campaign but also lingered until its end … and perhaps even until this day. He was, as he so often has been in the past, the classic news‐breaker, an inspiration to journalists everywhere.”

The Hall of Fame Award is chosen by a jury panel after a handful of nominees are put forward by each of the 5 broadcasters and Pay TV. Last year it inducted former Nine newsreader Brian Naylor who died in the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

18 Responses

  1. @ Jag & Patrick, yes Reg Watson is very worthy of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and as you say Patrick, they should induct a few each year, there are so many who are worthy. Don’t take any notice of me Patrick, it’s good to see someone so passionate about things. I think if Reg ever gets inducted, they should get you to present it to him darl.

  2. Hear Hear Jag ! Agree totally with your comments about Mr. Watson.

    I know I’ve gone on about him about receiving the Hall of Fame, but quite frankly I think he has had far more influence on Australian TV than someone like Laurie Oakes. Has Mr. Oakes had an international impact with his stories like Mr. Watson has??

    I stand by my comments and I hope TV Week takes on the ARIA idea of holding a separate awards show to enable more deserving people enter the Hall of Fame. That would also potentially give a fairer gender balance as well.

    Anyway the Hall of Fame has been decided for this year so that’s that for awhile. I will now zip the lip for the time being!

  3. @ Ms Rothschild I agree very strongly with Patrick, Reg Watson is very deserving of the award, just look at all the shows that he created, all classics, the best we have ever made and still remembered to this day. The Australian television landscape would be a much poorer place if it weren’t for the input of Reg Watson.

    In the first 30 or so years of Australian television there were only 2 main companies responsible for all of our shows and that was Grundys and Crawfords. Reg Watson was really the man behind Grundys and the creator of many of their shows so he deserves to be recognised in Australian television history.

    1. Prisoner just missed out along with about half a dozen others that also just missed out. It was a leak that told us who the others were, just as there would have been another half dozen this year that just missed out. Reg Watson is very worthy (as are many) but also very private.

  4. Last year Prisoner only just missed out because of the death of Brian Naylor. This year it misses out again because of the retirement of Laurie Oakes. Who is making these decisions anyway? Forget the critics and let the people decide.

  5. Patrick, I agree on the multiple inductees, and the idea of a separate event. I honestly think, that TV Week, should next year decide to have a publicly voted HoF alongside the peer vote.

    After all, who has the good memories of the great shows, and stars? The viewers do.

  6. I’m not too impressed with this news. I want Reg Watson to receive it – he’s done so much for the TV industry as a whole – more than Mr. Oakes has done.

    Why can’t TV Week do what ARIA does and have a seperate Hall of Fame Awards where multiple talents receive it? Once a year for TV veterans is nowhere near enough.

    Reg Watson, Molly Meldrum, Noni Hazlehurst, etc all deserve it.

  7. Unfortunately my initial response was a Channel 9 bias with this choice, as Logies have been linked with that network more than any other. But Laurie is a veteran, but then again so is Kerry o’Brien and Caroline Jones too. The bias towards men is pretty transparent. So I guess a show like Prisoner, about women will never enter that hallowed hall, so too so many other long serving women both in front of and behind the camera. I would be more gracious if Oakes was a warmer, more likeable persona.

  8. Hasn’t Laurie won enough awards already this year? Is it just me or does anyone else feel it’s just a little cheapening to see respected journos receiving awards alongside teen soap actors and reality show hosts at a magazine sponsored awards show?

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