Everyone ‘dominates’ the Walkleys. A hearty congratulations to those nominated for Walkley awards, journalism’s highest honour, announced at simulcast union-funded drinks last night in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne (the latter event, a poorly attended pub night hosted by our own Sophie Black). As is tradition, journos who drew the short straws at the major papers then went into overdrive spinning the results for their respective mastheads. Everyone had something to crow about.

The Sydney Morning Herald led the nominations, it declared, “dominating” the print category with Philip Dorling’s WikiLeaks scoops — though some are asking whether the stringer deserved recognition for preciously hording the cables. There were other nominations for investigative reporters Linton Besser and Dylan Welch, business scribe Michael West, headline writer Rita Williams and noms for its artists and photographers.

Fairfax foreign correspondents Jason Koutsoukis and Ben Doherty were also named, prompting The Age to declare it too “dominates” nominations with investigative reporters Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie in the running for their RBA bribery series and the Simon Overland saga. John Silvester was nominated for his “Naked City” commentary, along with Warwick McFadyen for headline writing and artists Glenn Campbell and Oslo Davis. Age editor-in-chief Paul Ramadge was chuffed: “We have worked in a very focused way over the past year to break more stories and strive for excellence, all at a time when the media industry faces challenges.”

The Australian’s Nick Leys was more humble about a list that favoured Fairfax rivals, recognising competitors and nominated TV reporters such as ABC foreign correspondent Mark Willacy (Japan tsunami), Ten’s Matt Moran and Hugh Riminton (Defence Skype sex scandal), the late ABC journalist Paul Lockyer (Queensland floods) and Four Corners (for its live animal exports scoop). The Oz‘s three nominees were led by Sarah Elks and Tony Koch (in the indigenous affairs category) and Natasha Bita (in “sustained coverage” for reports on vaccine policy).

The Walkleys also “feted” The Australian Financial Review, the paper reported today, with nominations for Pamela Williams, Laura Tingle and David Rowe (in both the artwork and cartooning categories). The Herald Sun‘s Jill Baker won a nomination for her moving account of battling cancer, but the paper buried the news in briefs on page 14. The gongs will be handed out in Brisbane for the first time on November 27 — click here for a full list of nominees. — Jason Whittaker

Smelly wake-up call from Piers. A bit confronting at that hour of the morning, we would have thought. But if Piers Ackerman is your idea of a nutritious breakfast …

(In fact, he had his first post up — “Carbon tax is like a stink bomb in a very small car” — at 5.37am. You have to commend the man’s commitment.)

Front page of the day. As Thailand’s flood crisis continues, Thai newspaper The Nation holds the government to account:

Rupert Murdoch to visit Australia

“Brace yourselves Holt Street: Rupert Murdoch is to make his first post-News of the World scandal visit to Australia this month.” — AdNews

Analysts cautious on media’s outlook

“Although a number of Australian-listed media companies have posted big gains this month, analysts are cautious about the sector’s outlook, given likely challenges ahead. Key media companies Fairfax Media, Seven West Media and News Corporation (parent company of The Australian) have bounced off recent lows.” — The Australian

When is an exclusive not an exclusive?

“On October 9th Sunday Night played about one minute of the clip ‘fast-tracked from America exclusively for us here at Sunday Night.’ But yesterday the Today show played the same video in its entirety, with Richard Wilkins insisting it was a World Exclusive.” — TV Tonight

Italy’s most outspoken journalist on Berlusconi’s power

“On Oct. 14, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in parliament. The news prompted many around the world to ask: Just what will it take for Berlusconi to lose his job? To shed some light on this topic, Foreign Policy spoke with Beppe Severgnini, one of Italy’s best-known journalists, a veteran Silvio-watcher, and author of the new book Mamma Mia: Berlusconi’s Italy Explained for Posterity and Friends Abroad.” — Foreign Policy

Asian radio station left disaster relief cash in bank

“A London-based radio station that raised £160,000 for natural disasters in Asia let the money sit dormant in a bank account for almost seven years, an investigation by the Charity Commission has found.” — The Guardian