A Current Affair trio finalists for prestigious Kennedy awards

A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw is leading a round of nominees for the prestigious Kennedy Awards.

A record field of almost 550 nominations has been winnowed down to the finalists, which judges say took some doing.

“In a massive news year the standard of submissions is really exceptional in every category,” Kennedy Foundation chairman and senior judge Simon Dulhunty said.

“In some categories it took judges days to finally sort out finalists from big fields, some of which had more than 50 entries."

Grimshaw has been nominated in the Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting, following her nomination for the Gold Logie earlier this year.

But she won't be heading to the main event alone.

Two other A Current Affair reporters, Dimity Clancey and Taylor Auerbach, have also been nominated.

Clancey is up for the award in Outstanding Nightly Current Affairs Reporting.

Auerbach has been nominated for both Young Journalist of the Year and in the Outstanding Court Reporting category.

The awards ceremony will be held on August 10.