The central city of Bendigo will host this year’s prestigious Rural Press Club of Victoria awards, recognising the best in rural and regional journalism and photography.
The annual awards will be held on Friday, October 11 at the historic Bendigo Town Hall, one of central Victoria’s most spectacular 19th century venues.
Rural Press Club of Victoria president Bryce Eishold said the club was excited to showcase another regional location after successful events in Ballarat and Geelong in the past two years.
“The awards recognise the exemplary work of media professionals across broadcast, print and online,” Mr Eishold said.
“Quality work that upholds the principles of journalism – honesty, accuracy, fairness, independence and respect for the rights of others – is more important than ever,”
“This event allows guests to celebrate the best in the industry, and gain an exclusive insight into how the stories and photos were created.”
The awards will be emceed by ABC Statewide Drive presenter Prue Bentley.
Last year, more than 140 people attended the annual awards ceremony in Geelong, where ABC Central Victoria was announced as the Media Outlet of the Year – sponsored by CBRE.
Veteran Warrnambool Standard reporter Andrew Thomson was named Journalist of the Year – sponsored by the Victorian Farmers Federation, while Chelsea Bunting from the Geelong Advertiser was crowned Ray Frawley Young Journalist of the Year – sponsored by TAC.
Darren Howe from Bendigo Advertiser was named Photographer of the Year – sponsored by RACV.
There will be 16 awards up for grabs this year, including three new categories.
Mr Eishold said a sub-committee of five media professionals conducted an independent review into the awards program, recommending changes to modernise existing awards.
Three new awards will be announced in the categories of Community Journalism, Most Innovative Journalism and Best Coverage of a Breaking News Event.
Sub-committee chair Greg Dundas said the Community Journalism award aimed to celebrate reporting at the most grass-roots level.
“No other media industry body has the capacity to acknowledge this sort of work in the way the Rural Press Club of Victoria can.
“Journalism is changing all the time, in particular the methods and platforms journalists use to report news and events to their communities,”
“That is why we’ve introduced an award for Most Innovative Journalism. It will promote cutting-edge, creative story-telling, and it will be fascinating to see the types of entries we get for this award.”
The Breaking News Event category will celebrate those journalists who can bring urgent information to their audience in a compelling way.
Membership to the Rural Press Club of Victoria is available to working journalists across regional Victoria at an annual cost of $39.
Subject to other eligibility requirements, members can enter up to three category awards as well as any of the overall awards: Journalist of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Young Journalist of the Year and the Award for Community Journalism.
Further details about the awards and judging criteria for each of them will be available on the Rural Press Club of Victoria website when entries open after June 30.
The Bendigo Town Hall is located at 189–193 Hargreaves St, Bendigo VIC 3550.
