Mayors Celebrate Newspaper Success!

Hi Everyone,

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Exciting news from the Life Publishing Group team this week – we’ve won this year’s Local Government Association of Queensland Journalism Award!

We’re particularly humbled by this achievement, especially given the competition with The Australian coming in second and the ABC third.

This state award recognises excellence in regional journalism, and our positive, community-focused, hyperlocal coverage across the group took out the top accolade.

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I travelled to Cairns on Tuesday to accept the award on behalf of our team, and I would like to acknowledge all our journalists for the exceptional work they do every day across all the regions we serve.

A big round of applause goes to Hannah McNamara, Victoria Velton, Jacob Casha, Zach Houtenville and our Editorial Team Leader Suzanna McLoughlin.

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As some of you may know, most of our journalists come to the regions as cadets, embarking on their first jobs in journalism. They are thrown into a new community and often become the only on-the-ground journalists covering local news.

They are then supported by our fantastic team of professionals, and together we produce the papers our communities read every week.

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Every page is a team effort, from the advertising booked by our Sales Managers to the pages created by our designers, the production team bringing it all together and our journalists delivering the content.

Thank you to the whole team for everything you do and well done to each journalist for collectively producing a body of work of such a high standard that we received this top gong.

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I would also like to mention the origins of this award, which are particularly meaningful.

The LGAQ established it in honour of ABC cameraman John Bean, journalist Paul Lockyer and helicopter pilot Gary Ticehurst, who tragically died in a crash while on assignment in 2011.

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They were a well-liked and deeply respected crew who spent much of their time working in regional areas. Their loss sparked an outpouring of grief from regional leaders who understood the enormous contribution they made to ensuring regional Queensland was given a voice and its contribution to public life was recognised.

It is an honour to continue their legacy in our own small way, ensuring regional Queensland communities remain connected and have a strong voice through positive, local free newspapers every week.

The awards night was spectacular, with more than 500 Mayors, Councillors and local government staff in attendance and I was thrilled to meet up with five of the local Mayors from the regions we serve.  

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When I was called up on stage to accept the award on behalf of the team, it was a moment that made all our dedication to regional journalism feel worthwhile.

To my surprise, when I came off the stage, all our local Mayors came over to congratulate us.

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I was greeted by Mayor Greg Williamson from Mackay, Mayor Ry Collins from the Whitsundays, Mayor Pierina Dalle Cort from the Burdekin and Mayor Ramon Jayo from Hinchinbrook.

I have to confess, I had tears in my eyes at that moment!

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I later found out that Mayor Ramon Jayo had nominated us for the award and that every Mayor had received a phone call from the judging committee, with each vouching for the incredible work our team does every day in their regions.

Thank you to all the Mayors, including Mayor Teresa Millwood from Cassowary Coast, where we have recently expanded. It was a delight to share your table on the night!

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And finally, thank you to our incredible team, our Publisher Bec Douthwaite, the LGAQ for this significant recognition, and our wonderful readers and local businesses who are part of the Life community.

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Rach

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