The Walkley Advisory Board said Latika Bourke's use of Twitter added an important dimension to her reporting of the Liberal leadership crisis
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An up and coming political journalist has been named the 2010 Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year , with special mention given to her "pioneering" use of Twitter. Latika Bourke was given the award in recognition of her coverage of the Liberal leadership crisis that saw Tony Abbott topple Malcolm Turnbull.
The Walkley Advisory Board said her use of Twitter as the story unfolded added an important dimension to her reporting.
Speaking about her work, Bourke said it was the first major political story and first major Australian news story to be covered by Twitter.
"Suddenly we had this brand new watercooler of instant leads, some of them dud, speculation, rumour and hearsay and sometimes real legitimate fact," she said. "So it was an extra challenge of reporting back in this new concept of instant. Working in radio you'd think I would know what instant was, but twitter just changed all of that.
But this also meant you had to be extra cautious about what leads you were following, what sources you were using and what direction you were taking."
Her prize consists of trips to the US and UK to visit major media organisations and $5,000 spending money.
Bourke discusses her award-winning work:
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2010 Young Australian Journalist of the Year - Latika Bourke from Walkley Foundation on Vimeo.
