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successCOUNTRY PRESS SA in press NEWSPAPER AWARDS 2014 Vintage tribute to the best elegates to the 2015 Country Press SA conference were Dtreated to some of the State’s best food and wine in the Barossa Valley. At two of the region’s iconic locations – the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort and Seppeltfield Wines (pictured) - representatives from the 31 member newspapers heard from speakers including Barossa Co-op CEO Graeme Longmuir, local legend Maggie Beer, Jan Turbill of Intuito Market Research, Mark Hollands of Newspaper Works and real estate innovator Anthony Toop. The 2014 Country Press SA Awards were celebrated with a gala dinner at the Novotel on Friday night February 19, where there were some surprises in store, especially in the Best Newspaper categories. Country Press SA BAROSSA VALLEY CONFERENCE 2015 Country Press South Australia 2 success in press NEWSPAPER AWARDS 2014 www.sacountrypress.com.au Best Newspaper 6000+ Port Lincoln Times LEFT: Mark Brownley, of SA Power Networks, with Port Lincoln Times’ Managing Editor Chris Coote and judge Bruce Morgan. ABOVE: How the Port Lincoln Times team celebrated its historic win. Times has community at heart Judge’s comments Bruce Morgan enerally, the standard of newspapers rated them. In the end, it was quality com- ular layout, with the classifieds clean and It was amusing to see Church Services un- in this category was quite high, with munity journalism that won the day. reader friendly. der “entertainment”. A subjective point! Ga consistent commitment to “parish First place – Port Lincoln Times. The Overall, this seems a proud community Third place – The Border Watch pump” community news, people photos and outstanding commitment to community jour- newspaper that takes its leadership role seri- Easily the best, most consistent front page good sports detail. nalism came through on every page. While ously. in this category and The Border Watch is eve- Most in this category committed to regu- the print stock quality/printing let this pub- Second place – Yorke Peninsula ry bit the daily paper it almost is. lar editorials and promoted letters to the edi- lication down somewhat, its strengths out- Country Times Inside was also consistent and the quality tor, including social media comments. weighed this. This is a clean newspaper on good stock of the local content was high. Pictures were Layouts generally were modular and clean The “Our Community” section is a bench- with multiple strengths throughout its pages. good but sometimes too big when consider- with a good balance between serif and sans mark for all publications wanting to remain Strong use of “people pics” and quality ing the content of the frame. serif headers. Story count was good although relevant in their communities. The Times has local content were the standouts. The story It editorialises well but lacks community it could be improved in some publications. community leadership credentials, with good count was reasonable, but more briefs could engagement through letters, which could be The advertising in some was exceptional, editorial comment and solid letters indicating make it better and busier. Editorial and letters encouraged. highly creative, bold and colourful. engagement. page was substantial but readers could be en- Sport also was good, although some re- The printing was a contrast, with some pa- Its junior sport was a highlight of this sec- couraged to write more briefly. ports were exceedingly long and seemingly pers of high quality on good print stock but tion, and overall, an excellent story count. Sport was an excellent cover of those rep- printed as submitted. others using a lighter stock that did not repro- Its typography was mixed with balance resented. The advertising was of good quality, with duce as well. and a good use of photos, although again re- The advertising was a high standard; the a very good Real Estate Guide. Generally, the It was difficult scoring the top seven production was a let-down. Mother’s Day Gift Ideas a good example of printing was good, although too much mono newspapers; indeed only four points sepa- The advertising was clean, allowing mod- busy but clean. detracted from the overall product. Country Press SA thanks its sponsors... Country Press South Australia NEWSPAPER AWARDS 2014 www.sacountrypress.com.au success in press 3 Best Newspaper 2500-6000 The Recorder Setting a new Sponsor Mark Brownley, of SA Power Networks, standard Debbie Glastonbury and Greg Mayfield of The Recorder, and judge Margaret on ‘sticky Manuel. issues’ Judge’s comments Margaret Manuel First: The Recorder Pirie. I loved its coverage of some sticky issues – Second: The Naracoorte Herald including some difficult political situations which I Third: The Murray Valley Standard. felt were handled well by the journalists. Although I felt privileged and honoured to be the judge of small in size, the paper packs a punch and is full of newspapers in this category for 2014 and I knew it life with good photos, used well. wouldn’t be an easy job. Fourth was Whyalla News. Front pages had good Judging was difficult with all newspapers show- variety with photos used well with imaginative ing good coverage of local events, proving they are layout. Editorial comment, social pictures, high an integral part of their communities. standard of editorial and a well-used opinion page Only four points separated the top four papers. contributed to a well-rounded newspaper. Interestingly I found some papers were actually Great real estate advertising. I felt photos could more exciting to look at from the back page than be sharper. Best photos were in the real estate ad- the front. vertising. It is important to remember that it is front pages Fifth – Transcontinental, Port Augusta. Not far that sell newspapers and I believe nothing can com- behind the previous two papers, a neat and tidy pa- pete with a good front page photo used well. per with good modular layout. Photos could have Also, I question the use of TV guides taking up been crisper – especially in the 40 and 50 years ago two pages when most TVs have easy access to their section. They’re not worth using if they can’t be re- own guides. produced well. I liked the fact opinion was sought Also, many papers didn’t use by-lines for their from the community with Street Talk. journalists. Page 2 changed during the year from just weather Third this year is The Murray Valley Standard. It to include a story, which gave the paper much more did a great job of covering sport in the area. In the appeal. The winning team: Editor issues submitted, its back pages were well present- Sixth – Northern Argus, Clare. Although this pa- Greg Mayfield, ed with good use of photos which often outshone per can boast a great cross-section of news with front centre, with manager the front pages. I particularly loved the house ad good real estate advertising and sports coverage, I Debbie Glastonbury, left, “I’d be stranded without my Standard”. felt the paper generally had an old-fashioned look and Hollie Joyce. Back, Phil Second place goes to The Naracoorte Herald. A to it with lengthy stories on the front page and little Hensel, Bianca newspaper with good solid front pages and some use of photos. But I like the Trades and Services Di- Roeters, Shane Hendrickson, well-written stories which I found myself reading rectory - good use of colour and easy to read. Great Jessica Brenton and more than I meant to. front page photo at Marrabel but not attributed to administration manager They pulled the reader in to read more. any photographer. Joyleen Eckert. Absent: Louis I did note a falling off of reporting in the Novem- I felt the camera competition photos could have Mayfield and Laura Cook ber issue and on checking the house ads found the been used better at times – at least one of them, with paper had one fewer journalists, maybe making life the others smaller as they were of excellent quality. harder for the one still writing? Another newspaper where the back page was of- And first place goes to The Recorder from Port ten more appealing than the front. Newspaper Awards Save the date Friday February 19, 2016 Mortlock Chamber State Library of South Australia, North Terrace Adelaide 6.30pm for 7pm start Proudly supported by SA Power Networks Celebrating regional journalism, photography, and advertising. Registration Forms will be sent later in the year. Country Press South Australia 4 success in press NEWSPAPER AWARDS 2014 www.sacountrypress.com.au Making the most Lyndon Keane and Duana Job, Katherine Times. of the Times Best Newspaper under 2500 Katherine Times Judge’s comments Joe Italiano he top three newspapers in this year’s celebrated. If you do well in Katherine, the competition had a lot in common. The local paper certainly looks like it will help TKatherine Times, Eyre Peninsula Trib- spread the news. une and The South Eastern Times are all en- Disappointingly in the editions judged was gaged with their communities. This is evident a lack of names under some photographs, in their coverage of community events, sport particularly in sport and social pages. People and solid Letters-to-the-Editor sections. have names and these should be used in cap- The Katherine Times and The South East- tions, even if it means a little extra work to ern Times have moved with the times and chase them up. are making good use of technology. Layouts Eyre Peninsula Tribune are clean and good use is made of space with This newspaper has a good mix of hard both papers giving major news the full front news, sport and local social events.

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