Find out about the 12 members of the Ballarat Community News Publications Network.Ballarat East Community News Edition 4 July 2021 Cover Image small

Congratulations Ballarat Community News Publications

The Annual Community Newspaper Association of Victoria Awards were held online on Saturday 6 November 2021 and eight of the nine categories included a Ballarat publication as a finalist!

The CNAV has around 80 members from across Victoria and publications range from weekly, full-colour printed newspapers with large teams to quarterly journals compiled by small groups of volunteers. Each category had between 14 and 27 entries. It was fantastic for three publications from Ballarat to be represented in the finalists lists for almost all of the awards.

Here is a summary:

Best feature story

Feature stories are written in narrative style or hard news style, and they often appear across one or two pages, with photo/s. They contain human interest and can be about people, events, or other items of interest to the community.
(27 entries)

Second PlaceBallarat East Community News, Edition 4 – ‘The Ballarat East Community Pays it Forward’, by Sarah Greenwood-Smith.

Best editorial comment

This is an opinion piece written by or on behalf of the editor. Editorial comment is informed and relevant to the news in that edition of the paper, and it represents the position of the paper as a whole on that particular issue.
(14 entries)

Equal Second PlaceBrown Hill Community Newsletter, Edition 30 – ‘In this Edition’ by Sarah Greenwood-Smith.

Best history story

Community newspapers are renowned for their coverage of local history. The history story is a narrative style story documenting an aspect of the region's history. It might be about a person, a building, an aspect of the region's character, or a particular occasion in the history of the town.
(21 entries)

Second PlaceBrown Hill Community Newsletter, Edition 27 – ‘The Littlehales’ Brown Hill Family History’ by Roy and Marlene Littlehales, Brown Hill Residents, interviewed by Kevin Holloway, Brown Hill resident.

Best photograph

This category recognises the importance of illustration in community newspapers. The category will be judged not only on the quality of the photograph, but on how it enhances the article it illustrates or the publication it appears in.

Third PlaceBuninyong and District Community News, November 2020 (p.19) – ‘Springtime in Buninyong’. Image by Russell Luckock.

Best sports reporting

This can be a hard news story or a feature story about sport or with a sports theme. The entry can be a single story or the complete or part sports section of the paper.

Third PlaceBuninyong and District Community News, June 2021 (p.20) – ‘Meg (and mum) coach hot team’ by Ray Sullivan.

Best article by a person 18 years or younger

This category rewards young people for their participation in community newspapers. Entries can be about any subject and can be in news writing style or feature style.

Second PlaceBuninyong and District Community News, September 2020, (p.10) – ‘Running Free’ By Amy Piltz.

Best community content

This category recognises the breadth and depth of community news publishing. The judge will be looking for a publication which understands and reflects its community. The entry is the whole publication.
(26 entries)

Third PlaceBrown Hill Community Newsletter

Best design and layout

Judges look for visual clarity, simplicity, balance of light and dark elements, use of white space, and placement of pictures. The entry is the whole publication.
No Ballarat publications mentioned.

Best newspaper

This category recognises excellence in layout, style, and content. The entry is three separate issues of the whole publication.

(20 entries)

Finalist (one of five finalists): Ballarat East Community News

For reference, the winner (second year in a row) was the Greater Gisborne Gazette and the runners up were the North and West Melbourne News and the Otway Light.

The other four finalists were: the Ferntree Gully News, Harcourt News – The Core, Rowville & Lysterfield News and the Tallangatta Herald.

Some great inspiration indeed! Well done to all involved!