ABC’s deepfake election news story finalist in Walkley Award for Digital Media Innovation
Author
Date 28 October 2025
ADM+S researcher Devi Mallal alongside her ABC News colleague Matt Martino has been named a finalist in the 2025 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism in the category of Digital Media: Innovation Journalism for their investigative story, We cloned senator Jacqui Lambie’s voice with AI to show you what a deepfake election could look like.
The interactive investigation, produced by ABC News Verify, explores the growing threat of AI-generated misinformation in Australian politics by demonstrating how easy it can be to create a convincing deepfake voice.
The piece, which features a synthetic version of Senator Jacqui Lambie’s voice created with her consent, reveals the potential risks such technologies pose to trust and authenticity in democratic processes.
The nomination places ABC News alongside finalists from Guardian Australia and Nine’s The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald in recognising innovative journalism in digital media.
Now in its 70th year, the Walkley Awards celebrate Australia’s excellence in journalism across all media forms, setting the national standard for excellence in reporting, storytelling, and innovation.
Shona Martyn, CEO of the Walkley Foundation, said this year’s finalists represent the best of contemporary journalism.
“For 70 years, the Walkley Awards have recognised excellence in Australian journalism. The awards have expanded to cater for new technologies and styles of journalistic endeavour.
“What hasn’t changed is the commitment to quality public interest journalism as exemplified by the finalists announced today.”
The winners of the 2025 Walkley Awards will be announced at a gala dinner at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Sydney on Thursday, 27 November.
Read more about the finalists on the Walkley Foundation website
