LiSTNR’s ‘The Children in the Pictures’ podcast wins 2023 radio gold award

LiSTNR’s Australian-produced The Children in the Pictures podcast series has won gold in the ‘narrative/documentary podcasts’ category at the 2023 New York Festivals Radio Awards.

LiSTNR’s The Children in the Pictures won gold against a shortlist of 30 of some of the world’s greatest documentary makers including the BBC, ABC in Australia, ESPN, Crooked Media, IHeart Media in the US, and Radio Canada. 

The Children in the Pictures is a LiSTNR and DNX Media original docu-series podcast that follows the Queensland police investigation into notorious child exploitation website, ‘The Love Zone’, which hosted thousands of members around the world who created, uploaded, and shared videos and photographic material of unimaginable acts against children. 

In the series, Australian documentary maker Akhim Dev follows an elite team of Australian investigators, Taskforce Argos, who use their global connections and controversial undercover strategies to take down hands-on abusers and save The Children in the Pictures. Considered a landmark investigation, it is the first time undercover agents were able to take over and run a vast and secretive criminal network from the inside. 

SCA CEO, Grant Blackley, said: “It is an absolute honour to be recognised at the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Awards for LiSTNR’s original podcast The Children in the Pictures. Sincere congratulations to the entire LiSTNR factual and drama team led by Jennifer Goggin. Their commitment in researching and curating this innovative audio documentary is both inspiring and humbling. This outstanding piece of work highlights the unique power of audio while showcasing the importance of local storytelling.”

LiSTNR head of factual and drama, Jennifer Goggin said she and the entire team were thrilled to have the podcast recognised at such a prestigious and global level. 

“It was important to us that we told a compelling story, in a trauma-informed way, that helped to raise the alar of how prevalent the problem of child abuse is and how child abuse material is traded online,” she said. 

Documentary-maker Akhim Dev thanked the New York festivals for recognising this story. “It was a difficult but important documentary to make. We wanted to do justice to victim-survivors, and the members of law enforcement who continue to fight this epidemic. We hope this award helps us all continue the fight even further,” he said. 

The Children in the Pictures is available on LiSTNR now.