MATTERS OF INTEREST

COUNTRY PRESS SA AWARDS

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:22): Last Friday evening, I was pleased to attend the Country Press SA Awards dinner at the Wallaroo Marina hotel. It was the culmination of a conference that had been conducted in the neighbouring towns of Moonta and Kadina and hosted by Country Press SA President Michael Ellis, managing editor of the Yorke Peninsula Country Times. Also attending the dinner was the Hon. John Gazzola and the member for Goyder in another place, while the guest speaker was the President of the Senate, Senator the Hon. Alan Ferguson.

Once again, I presented my award for Best Community Profile. This year's judge, Stock Journal legend Richard James, had to choose from 21 entries. He gave the award to Kay Calder of The Plains Producer at Balaklava for a 'wonderfully documented story on farm accident victim Kerrin Rowan'. Mr James went on to comment:

It was a superb piece of reporting by Kay, covering every aspect of the accident, the victim's incredible courage, his positive attitude and his remarkable rehabilitation. His family and friends must be bursting with pride at the brilliant way he has handled his adversity.

I also congratulate Judy Richards of The Courier at Mount Barker and Ros White of the Yorke Peninsula Country Times for being adjudged second and third in this category respectively.

Before summarising the results of many of the other awards presented at Wallaroo, it is appropriate to mention briefly another newspaper event that took place the following evening at Renmark. I was pleased to participate in a dinner to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Greek Community Tribune, which is published in that town. It is the only Greek language newspaper published in South Australia and is read all over the state and in many other parts of the country. I congratulate the editor and proprietor Peter Ppiros for achieving this important milestone.

In the best newspaper section for newspapers with a circulation of over 6,000, the winner was The Times of Victor Harbor, second place went to The Courier, and third place went to The Bunyip of Gawler. In the section for a circulation of 2,500 to 6,000, the best newspaper was adjudged to be The Murray Valley Standard for the fourth time in a row. The runner-up was the Northern Argus, and third place went to The Recorder. In the under 2,500 circulation category of the best paper, the award went to The River News, with second place to The Plains Producer and third place to The Islander.

In the category allocated to the best advertisement, the winner was The Leader from Angaston, the runner-up was The Bunyip, and third place went to The Transcontinental of Port Augusta. The best advertising feature was won by The Bunyip, second place went to TheMurray Pioneer, with the YP Country Times third. The best supplement category was won by The Murray Pioneer, with second place going to The Border Watch and third to The Murray Valley Standard.

The best news photograph category was won by Jason Wallace of The Border Watch, with second place going to The Bunyip and third to The Courier. The best sports photograph this year was won by Lenny Robinson of The Islander, with second place going to The Bunyip and third to The Barossa and Light Herald.

The best front page category was won by The Bunyip, with second place going to The Murray Pioneer and third to The Recorder. The winner of the editorial writing category was The Border Watch, with second place going to The Loxton News and third to The Courier. The excellence in journalism award was taken out by Greg Mayfield of The Recorder, ahead of The Courier and The Flinders News respectively. Karleigh Smith of The Recorder also won the category for best sports story, with The Murray Valley Standard second and The Transcontinental third.

The awards ceremony was very well compered by the vice president of the organisation, Mr Ben Taylor. It was an excellent event and once again Country Press SA shows itself to be a peak body of the highest standard. The newspapers compete very strongly for these awards but they also display—as the Hon. Mr Gazzola would attest—great camaraderie in their celebrations at the event.

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