State accolades for Star
GUEST speaker Beau Vernon, Leongatha Football Netball Club’s Senior coach, was a highlight at the 105th Victorian Country Press Association (VCPA) Annual Conference and Awards Presentation Dinner last Friday, November 13 at Silverwater Resort at San Remo near Phillip Island.
Beau shared his story with newspaper delegates from all round the state and moved all with his inspiring story, coming back from the depths of despair after his debilitating football accident that left him in a wheel chair.
Many audience members commented about Beau’s uplifting talk.
On The Star’s Facebook page, Elle Tee Kaye agreed saying, “Such an awe inspiring young man. I am sure that everyone you meet are better people for having met you. You are someone to be very proud of. Best of luck always Beau.”
The conference was officially opened by Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews and attended by newly elected Bass Coast Shire Council mayor Cr Jordan Crugnale, outgoing mayor Cr Kimberley Brown, Phillip Island Nature Park CEO Matthew Jackson and a host of other speakers.
Awards were presented in the categories of overall newspaper excellence, local reporting and journalism.
Another highlight was the praise for runner-up The Great Southern Star newspaper by esteemed judge Dr Katrina Mandy Oakham, a lecturer in journalism at RMIT University in the Award for Journalism, circulation 3,000-10,000 sponsored by Australia Post.
She said, “The Great Southern Star and the Pakenham Gazette battled it out for the gold and silver in this highly contested category. Cliche it may be but it was very hard to choose between these two champions. So a well-deserved, silver medal goes to The Star newspaper which once again proved itself a true contender with strong fronts, excellent local reporting by a team lead by names like Brad Lester, Tayla Kershaw, Sarah Vella and (former journalist) Laura Gibb.
“Turning the page to the regular feature of ‘Column 7 local snippets’ is like slipping on my comfy and very familiar ‘Cats’ slippers. Throughout this paper, community interests are well catered for through news and features on all aspects of local life from entertainment to farming.”
The Star also wishes to note the contribution made by journalists Stuart Biggins and Lucy Johnson to the newspaper’s editorial section each week.
The winner was the Pakenham Gazette and the South Gippsland Sentinel Times was highly commended. The Star’s sister newspaper the Yarram Standard was highly commended in the equivalent journalism award in the under 3000 circulation category.
Inspiring speaker: Leongatha football club Senior coach Beau Vernon, left, the guest speaker at the Victorian Country Press Association annual conference gave an inspiring address. He is pictured with The Great Southern Star general manager Tony Giles at the Silverwaters Resort at Phillip Island.
Short URL: /?p=16668
Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 17 2015. Filed under Business, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
