ABC National Sport Reporter David Mark has been honoured at the prestigious AIPS (International Sports Press Association) Sports Media Awards – the highest international accolade in the sport media industry.
At the ceremony in Spain on Monday night, Mark was given a special award for investigative reporting for his three-year exposé of systematic child abuse by former rock-climbing coach Stephen Mitchell.
Considered the most prestigious of the APIS awards, the special award is dedicated to an investigative treatment of sport-related topics or issues judged to be of public interest.
The win follows his recent Walkley for Sports Journalism, and award for “Best reporting of an issue in sport” at the Australian Sports Commission Awards.
Mark has also been recognised by the Australian Federal Police with a medal from the AFP’s Operation Pyrite, with the Chief Investigator saying his reporting “directly affected the outcomes of the investigation” into Mitchell and had “brought resolution to numerous victims of child sexual assault.”
The ABC series told the stories of multiple victims of Mitchell, who was arrested in February 2022 and is now serving 13 years for the historic sexual assaults of six girls – now all women.
