4 success in press
Country Press South Australia NEWSPAPER AWARDS 2012 www.sacountrypress.com.au
A long time between drinks Best Newspaper under 25000
South Eastern Times
The South Eastern Times THE South Eastern Times made history when it was named the best newspaper in regional South Australia with a circulation of under 2500 copies. It is believed to be the first time since 1966 that the Millicent district newspaper has won a Country Press South Australia accolade for newspaper of the year. “This is a big win for The South Eastern Times staff and for Millicent and the broader region,” editor Jason Wallace said. “Country newspapers have a unique place in the market as they are all about the communities they serve, reflecting the people, challenges and achievements of the region. “We rely on the support of the community, including advertisers, contributors, readers and people prepared to cooperate with reporters and photographers - this is a win not just for the paper, but the community we reflect.” The newspaper also took out a second placing in the “best front page” category with the November 6 edition featuring the demolition of the Tantanoola Pulp Mill recovery boiler. Pictures supplied by Steve Chapple, accompanying a story by reporter Chris Oldfield (now retired) and layout by subeditor John Scanlon impressed judge Brian Barnett. He awarded first prize in the category to The River News, but said the South Eastern-Times was a strong contender for the accolade with a “well-balanced, clean front page with good, clear pointers and good colour handling without having a news day depicting disaster or personal tragedy”. “It managed to publish a newspaper with a front page that would make me want to pick it up and buy it,” he said. General manager Robin Reid said The South Eastern Times had recently introduced changes to further improve the newspaper, extending coverage of the community and minimising errors, to
NUMBER ONE: Reporter “Fred” Smith, general manager Robin Reid, advertising consultant Katherine Taylor, reporter Brooke Littlewood, editor Jason Wallace, administration officer Caroline Hammat and advertising manager Dennis Jackson celebrate The South Eastern Times’“best newspaper” win at the Country Press SA awards. build on the success. He said the recent appointment of Fred Smith to the journalism team had also led to the community welcoming the return of the highlyexperienced reporter, adding to the strength of The South Eastern Times. Mr Wallace said delivering a paper of the standard of The South Eastern Times was a team effort and praised former editor Janet Pool, who was at the helm for a large part of the year. He also highlighted the achievements of current staff Caroline Hammat, Katherine Taylor, Brooke Littlewood, Connie Bates, Jo Puddy
and Mr Scanlon, along with subeditors Luke Duff and Stan Brooker and the sports team of Rod Morris and Brett Kennedy, along with former staff Ms Oldfield, Briohny Robinson and Rosie Gore. Mr Wallace said the production, printing, management and administrative team at The Border Watch also made strong contributions to the success of the paper. Mount Gambier’s The Border Watch was named South Australia’s BankSA best newspaper, taking out the major category for titles with circulation over 6000, at the awards night. The win was the third consecutive
accolade for the newspaper, which is also edited by Mr Wallace. Country Press SA and the Port Lincoln Times hosted the 2012 Newspaper Awards Dinner at the Port Lincoln Hotel on Friday night. The gala dinner was attended by more than 120 people representing newspapers across the state, sponsors and guests. Murray Bridge’s Murray Valley Standard won the BankSA Best Newspaper 2500-6000 Circulation category for the ninth year in a row. Country Press SA president David Wright said the awards rec-
ognised the outstanding efforts of country newspapers in serving their local communities, while offering a benchmark for continued improvement and development. Awards were also presented in 11 other categories covering news and sports articles and photographs, editorial writing, community profile and advertisements. Among the winners was The Border Watch and South Eastern Times sports editor Rod Morris for the best sports story category. Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Leon Bignell paid tribute to country newspapers for their thorough coverage of local sport.
Readers, advertisers, get great value MY first impressions while reading the 11 entries in this section were that readers and advertisers were getting great value. By the end of judging it had become apparent that the overall improvement in the four disciplines I was required to judge compared to the previous occasion I had assessed the category was significant. No more so than in the advertising content and placement. Most of the entries produced outstanding graphic art work and colour in their local advertisements, particularly in the advertising features for local events or holiday programs. Some of them like the Eyre Peninsula Tribune’s “What to do at the Kimba Show”, The River News’ “Easter in the Riverland” and The South Eastern Times’ “Holam
JUDGE’S COMMENTS Summer Cup”, amongst a number of others, were examples of very professional work. Also, an eight-page feature on hay making in the Plains Producer was compiled and written with vibrant eye-catching advertisements designed to attract all readers. The editorial and photographic disciplines make up half the judging marks. Not one newspaper let itself down in this area. Editorial writing was outstanding across the board but in The Pennant, Plains Producer and The Islander, it was consistently outstanding. Opinion pages in most entries
Graham Gorrel
were strong with good space devoted to letters. Early general news stories were well crafted. Sports coverage was outstanding throughout with football and netball grand final features in The Mid North Broadcaster and The South Eastern Times stand-outs. Plenty of pictures, especially groups at various functions and of sports teams, were frequently used to advantage. However, if there was a down point in the whole competition, many pictures, either coloured or black and white, were sometimes too dark. Production people should take care to improve this aspect _ there is good technical advice easily
available in the industry. Overall, this was a great section to judge and the entries were a showcase for Country Press South Australian _ indeed for the newspaper industry generally. FIRST: The South Eastern Times: An excellent newspaper with strong front pages and early general news pages. The newspaper always had a strong editorial opinion, sensibly written and balanced. Good advertising features with well produced local advertisements were a feature. Pictorial, especially in the excellent sports section, was a highlight. The category produced many top class entries so the winner can
be proud to be at the top of them. SECOND: The Islander: The newspaper has been a top performer in this section for some years and again produced examples of what a voice it has become in the community. Right on top of all issues with balanced reporting and a compelling editorial stance, the newspaper very clearly had strong community support judging from its letters section. THIRD: Plains Producer: An excellent read with its journalists on top of the community news and events. Also keeps a strong standard of reporting school news and achievements of students which is a good way to encourage and maintain readers. A two-page tribute to the Wakefield regional council’s CEO was a good example of community reporting.