1 ANNUAL REPORT For the year ended 31 December 2016 2 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Contents President’s Report 2016 Page 3 Treasurer’s Report 2016 Page 4 Events Calendar 2016 Page 5 Board 2016 Page 6 Quill Awards 2016 Page 7-8 MPC Sponsors 2016 Page 9 Financial Report 2016 Page 10 3 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB President’s Report 2016 2016 proved to be another extremely successful year in the life of the Melbourne Press Club. With a mission of promoting excellence in Victorian journalism, we staged a number of high- profile speaking events and our annual Quill awards continue to go from strength to strength. Speakers including Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, Senator Derryn Hinch, Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas and Monash University Vice-Chancellor Margaret Gardner generated huge interest. In a special coup, we recruited John Cleese to speak at a members-only cocktail event, where he memorably held forth on the state of UK journalism. The Quill awards not only produced a swag of worthy winners but, once again, provided a rare opportunity for Victoria’s media professionals to gather in a relaxed social setting. Fairfax business journalist Adele Ferguson took out the Gold Quill and was named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. Veteran Herald Sun football writer Mike Sheahan took out the Lifetime Achievement award, while ABC/Fox Footy sports commentator Gerard Whateley was named the inugural Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year. The Press Club stepped up its engagement with younger journalists through ‘The Edit’, a series of evening events where senior journalists spoke about their craft and how they chased down the big stories. I wish to thank the club’s generous sponsors for their continued support and in particular welcome aboard Australia Post and the TAC as major Press Club sponsors. I would also like to thank our CEO, Mark Baker, and the hard-working team at the MPC office for another year of amazing achievement behind the scenes. I thank all of my fellow board members for their efforts during another busy year. I continue to value your experience and tremendous insights on some of the issues were discuss. Finally, a big thank you to all MPC members for your continued support. It is greatly appreciated. Michael Rowland MPC President Melbourne Press Club 24 July 2017 4 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Treasurer’s Report 2016 The Club continued to improve its financial position in 2016. We were pleased to welcome two new major sponsors in Australia Post and the TAC, and achieved an increase in overall sponsorship. As our president has reported our events program was once again very successful. 2017 has started well and we are looking forward to taking the Australian Media Hall of Fame to the next level with our Sydney event scheduled for later this year. Please refer to the financial statements for full details of the year's results. As stated in previous years the Club remains fortunate that it has no significant ongoing financial commitments other than salaries, event venue deposits, and office expenses, but ongoing viability continues to depend on securing sufficient sponsorship to meet these commitments. We again received very pleasing ongoing support from our continuing sponsors, and in particular are grateful to our joint principal sponsors Monash University and Virgin Australia. The value of annual sponsorship income rose to over $400,000 during financial 2015/16. Due to the Club reporting on a calendar year basis we have reported a loss in the 2015 calendar year of $21,049, but notably our cash position at calendar year end had improved by nearly $25,000 compared with 12 months earlier. The Club's current financial position is strong with reasonable cash reserves, and significant sponsorship payments pending. Club activity remained at a high level in 2016 with a total of 22 events staged. Attendances at these events totalled close to 2400. The highlights of financial performance included: • Membership revenue increased to $35,531; • Revenue from functions declined again from $187,617 to $152,964 – reflective of the continuing increase in media lunches, which run on lower revenue but also lower risk. Overall the functions have continued to run essentially at a break even level so this component of our performance is neutral in its impact on performance. Our secretariat continued to perform well and as always my thanks go to Mark Baker and his team for their ongoing support. We have continued to observe the procedures required by our auditors to ensure that accounting and association standards are met. I would like to thank our auditors, Pitcher Partners, for their efficient and timely service again this year. David Poulton Treasurer Melbourne Press Club 25 July 2017 5 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Events Calendar 2016 CORPORATE LUNCHES MEDIA LUNCHES OTHER EVENTS January 2016 Jan 28 – Digital Invaders lunch Jan 18 – The Edit with Leigh (87 people) Sales (38 people) February Feb 17 - Melbourne Herald Lunch (82 people) March Mar 30 – Mitch Fifield lunch Mar 17 – Cleese cocktails (93 people) (127 people) Mar 18 – Quills Dinner (573 people) April Apr 28 – Post state budget lunch Apr 14 – Post-Quills lunch – Apr 21 – Hall of Fame war with Treasurer. Whistleblowers correspondents event at SLV With VECCI (100 people) (320 people) Apr 28 – MEAA Women in Media launch May May 9 – Anna Nemtsova lunch May 23 – The Edit with Adele (69 people) Ferguson (36 people) June June 1 – Lunch with Prof. Peter Doherty/Sharon Lewin (63 people) June 8 – Lunch with Monash VC Margaret Gardner (97 people) July July 20 – Schuler book launch with July 25 – The Edit with Paul Les Carlyon Farrell (102 people) (23 people) August August 5 – Lunch with Derryn Hinch (97 people) August 9 – Lunch with Gerard Ryle – ICIJ (Storyology) (82 people) August 17 – Lunch with Kim Williams (81 people) September Sep 7 – Bob Rose Lecture Sept 5 – The Edit PTSD panel RACV Club (supported) (25 people) October Oct 27 – Mal Walden, 60 Years of TV (71 people) November Nov 14 The Edit: Sly and Rule (32 people) December December 2 – Lunch with Madeline Dec 7 – New Hall of Fame Di Nonno – Gender equity in media galleries launch (89 people) (85 people) 6 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Board 2016 President: Michael Rowland, ABC CEO: Vice Presidents: Eileen Berry, The Eileen Berry Trust Philip Chubb, Monash University Treasurer: David Poulton, Minter Ellison Secretary: Richard Leder, Corrs Chambers Westgarth Executive: Mark Baker, CEO Kate Handley, General Manager David Fisher, Assistant Manager Jenny Denton, Digital Producer Board: David Broadbent, Broadbent Media Rob Curtain, Communications Specialist Nicole Denton, 3AW Matt Cram, 3AW (Acting Board member for Nicole Denton: Appointed April 2016) Adele Ferguson, The Age Olivia Hill-Douglas, Media Consultant Bob Kearsley, Business Essentials Jonathan Kearsley, Nine News Ashlynne McGhee, ABC Pat O’Beirne, Six O’Clock Advisory Isabelle Oderberg, Australian Red Cross Mike Osborne, Australian Associated Press Simon Pristel, Seven Network Justin Quill, M+K Lawyers Nick Richardson, News Corp Tom Salom, News Corp Veronica Scott, Minter Ellison 7 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Quill Awards Honour Roll 2016 __________________________________________________________________________ The Monash University Gold Quill Andy Burns & Lousie Milligan | ABC 7.30 The Graham Perkin Award for the Australian Journalist of the Year Caro Meldrum-Hanna| ABC Four Corners Lifetime Achievement Award Niki Savva Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year Award Caroline Wilson | The Age Victorian Government Quill for Reporting on Disability Issues Beau Donnelly | The Age Young Journalist of the Year Award Bridget Judd | ABC RACV Transport Quill Matthew Johnston & Alex White| Herald Sun Grant Hattam Quill Award for Investigative Journalism in any Medium Ben Schneiders, Royce Miller & Nick Toscano| The Age Keith Dunstan Quill for Best Columnist/Blogger Tim Colebatch | Inside Story Magazine Sports News Michael Gleeson | theage.com.au Sports Feature Emma Quayle| The Age Business News Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft & Mario Christodoulou | The Age Business Feature Ben Butler | The Weekend Australian Magazine Camera Work John Parsons | Nine News News Photograph Jake Nowakowski | Sunday Herald Sun Sports Photograph Alex Coppel | Herald Sun Features Photograph Jason Edwards | Herald Sun Artwork Andrew Dyson | The Age 8 Breaking News Coverage Bianna Travers | Sunday Herald Sun Coverage of an Issue or Event Louise Milligan & Andy Burns | Herald Sun Cartoon Mark Knight | Herald Sun Innovation in Journalism Soren Frederiksen, Conal Hanna & Craig Dixon | Fairfax Media Suburban or Regional Journalism Melissa Cunningham | The Courier, Ballarat TAC Towards Zero Quill for Road Safety Reporting Melissa Cunningham | The Courier, Ballarat TV / Video News Brendan Donohoe | Seven News TV / Video Feature (Long Form) Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft, Mario Christodoulou | ABC Four Corners TV / Video Feature (Short Form) Nick McKenzie & Gus Goswell | ABC 7.30 Radio News Seb Costello | Triple M Hot Breakfast Radio Current Affairs Richard Baker & Michael Bachelard, theage.com.au News Report in Writing Tom Minear & James Campbell | Herald Sun Feature Writing Margaret Simons | The Monthly 9 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Sponsors to December 2016 10 MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB Financial Report 2016 __________________________________________________________________________ .