Legendary Nine News anchor Brian Henderson was last night honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Kennedy Awards.
At the eighth annual awards gala dinner at Randwick Racecourse, Henderson, 87, was presented the award by Nine News Sydney presenter Peter Overton and The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English.
Henderson accepted the award with his trademark humility.
“I am honoured and I am flattered, after 47 years in a job that I love doing and which gave me so much, to be acknowledged in this way tops it all off. The way it is, Friday the 9th of August, this is Brian Henderson, good night,” he said in his speech at the event.
Henderson, who retired from Nine in 2002 after an esteemed 47-year career across Nine News and Bandstand, joins an esteemed group including Jana Wendt and Ita Buttrose who have been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kennedy Foundation.
It was a strong night for Nine across its Television and Publishing divisions with 11 awards won.
“Brian Henderson is the face of Nine News that generations of Australians trusted and relied upon every weeknight to tell them the news without fear or favour. But it’s his heart, soul and integrity that, to this day, set the tone for Nine. He is a perfectionist who values accuracy above all else and always put the needs of our viewers first. His warmth and honesty guided us during some of the most testing times,” said Darren Wick, Nine National Director of News & Current Affairs.
“It’s an honour to see Brian Henderson recognised with this Lifetime Achievement Award. Everyone at Nine continues to strive daily to meet the highest of standards that he set.
“And, following in the tradition established by Brian, we’re proud that Nine’s quality journalism has been recognised by the Kennedy Awards. Thank you to our amazing and hard-working teams for their consistently excellent work.”
James Chessell, Executive Editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, said: “Congratulations to all the Herald and Age journalists whose superb work was recognised at the Kennedy Awards last night. To be nominated – and in many cases, win – in such a wide range of categories underlines the strength and breadth of our newsrooms. The Kennedys are always a special night and the competition is very fierce so it was great to do so well.”
Nine winners across broadcast and publishing:
• The Rod Allen Award - Racing Writer of the Year (sponsor the Australian Turf Club) Chris Roots (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Power of the Lens - The People’s Choice Award (sponsor Salty Dingo) Nick Moir (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• The Cliff Neville Award - Outstanding Team Player (sponsor Watpac) Ian Fuge (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Outstanding Travel Writing (sponsor RM Global Asia Pacific) Catherine Marshall (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Harry Potter Award- Outstanding Television News Reporting (sponsor 10 News First) Hannah Sinclair (Nine News)
• The Mike Willesee Award Outstanding Nightly Current Affairs (sponsor Nine News) Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett (The Sydney Morning Herald, 7.30 ABC-TV)
• Outstanding Finance Reporting (sponsor Castle Rock Global Capital) Jonathan Shapiro, Angus Grigg, Lisa Murray (The Australian Financial Review)
• Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting (sponsor Godfrey Wines) Liam Bartlett, Joel Tozer (60 Minutes, Nine)
• Rebecca Wilson Award - Scoop of the Year (sponsor Twitter) Danny Weidler (Nine News)
• The Jim Oram Award- Outstanding Feature Writing (sponsor Sydney Morning Herald) Amanda Hooton (The Good Weekend);
• Outstanding Foreign Correspondent (sponsor AGL) James Massola (The Sydney Morning Herald)
