‘Cheers’ to Region’s lone Griffith reporter Oliver Jacques who’s in the running for a Walkley. Photo: Supplied.
Region Riverina’s Griffith-based reporter, Oliver Jacques, has been selected as a finalist for the 2024 Walkley Awards: Australia’s most prestigious prize for excellence in journalism.
The former Canberran is one of three finalists in the Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs category for his investigation into the demise of Riverina wine company Sans Pareil Estate.
“If you look at the list of Walkley finalists, it’s dominated by the ABC, Herald, Age, Guardian and all the big media players. The name Region Riverina really stands out,” Oliver said.
“When you’re working from home in Griffith for a start-up company you don’t expect to be in the mix for a Walkley, so it’s a real thrill.”
Region Media Group content director Kim Treasure agreed it was a significant achievement at a time when regional journalism was under threat.
“He’s a lone community journalist working in a regional area which has been deserted by so many of the bigger mastheads, and he’s delivering the sort of content that puts him up against the likes of Newscorp and the ABC with all their resources,” she said.
“I think it just shows the importance of that genuine community voice in the media because Oliver is shining a spotlight on an issue that would never have come to light without a local journalist.”
Oliver joined the newly established Region Riverina team in 2022 after spending time in government roles and said he was very much at home with the steadily growing digital news brand.
“There’s so many big stories in Griffith and we really punch above our weight in terms of innovation, achievement and scandal,” he said.
“I love working for Region because the articles are free to read and they get wide coverage across our network – it’s nice to see Griffith stories go viral in Canberra, Illawarra and the South Coast.”
Oliver’s exclusive reporting on Sans Pareil Estate uncovered allegations of tax fraud totalling $32 million and exposed the lavish lifestyle and spending of the winery’s young owner.
“I dug into court records and liquidator documents and the story became more and more intriguing – a McLaren supercar, private jet trips, police search warrants, OnlyFans transactions, mysterious property sales – I did 24 articles in total. It was a massive story, I couldn’t believe nobody else was covering it,” Oliver said.
“Allegations of corporate crime are very underreported and there’s certainly a lot of alleged victims here including a long list of creditors that are still owed money, a lot of them from small towns in the Riverina and surrounding areas.”
The 2024 Walkley Award winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the ICC in Sydney on Tuesday 19 November.
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