Prizes increase again for national Star Prize program

Australia’s most prestigious national awards program for journalists and photographers covering rural issues was launched today with the value of the total prize pool increasing for a second year in a row.

Prizes valued at $11,000 are now on offer in the Australian Star Prize program, organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) in association with five state-based rural media clubs. They include for the first time a $1000 cash prize to overall winner of the photography award, and trips to Europe for winners of the two journalism awards. Read more...

Rural broadcast award opportunity open

Australian broadcast journalists have the opportunity to win a trip to Europe this year in the Rabobank Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting.

The 2012 award was launched today in Brisbane at a gathering of the Queensland Rural Press Club.

The award is run annually by the Australian Council for Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ), in association with Australia’s five dedicated rural media clubs.

Each club will select finalists to represent them in the competition, with the overall national winner receiving airfares and registration costs to attend the 2012 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) congress in Sweden, in August. Read more...

Kubota throws support behind national rural media award

The Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) is pleased to announce that Kubota, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of farm and industrial machinery, is the new national sponsor of Australia’s most prestigious writing award for journalists covering rural issues.

The national winner will be flown to Sweden to participate in a gathering of their peers from around the world in August 2012 and represent Australia in a prestigious international award program. Read more.....

Pip fronts Landline

The 2011 winner of the Rabobank Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting is the new presenter for ABC TV’s Landline.
Pip Courtney is fronting the program, which returned for a new season on Sunday, as well as continuing her long-standing role as one of its senior reporters.
Landline has consistently been the most-watched show in the ABC News Sunday schedule since its inception in 1991 and in recent years that popularity has extended to ABC Online and ABC iVIEW.
Pip’s in-depth analysis of the controversy over coal seam gas developments on prime farmland was judged the best television entry and the best broadcast story overall by the ACAJ last year. It went on to take out the same prizes at an international level in the IFAJ awards announced in Canada last September.
Pip is also a finalist for this year’s Queensland Rural Woman of the Year award.

ABC broadcaster takes up international appointment
One of Australia’s most senior rural broadcasters has been appointed to represent the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) on the executive of its international counterpart.

ABC Rural National Editor Leigh Radford is replacing rural journalist and author, Liz Harfull, who has served as national delegate to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) for more than 10 years and continues as ACAJ president. Read more.....

International broadcast win a bitter sweet moment for Pip

Experienced Queensland ABC television journalist Pip Courtney was meant to be in Canada on the weekend, representing Australia at a major international awards ceremony for media working in the rural sector. But she cancelled the trip after her husband and ABC cameraman John Bean was killed in a helicopter crash in the South Australian outback earlier this month, along with two other colleagues. So hearing that she had won the IFAJ Star Prize for Broadcast Journalism was a bitter sweet moment for Courtney who dedicated the honour to her late husband. Read the full dedication, find out more about all the broadcast award results and the judges' comments, and view the winning entries.

Aussies dominate international rural media awards
In a huge night for the nation’s rural media, Australians took out almost half the major prizes at an
international awards ceremony in Canada earlier today (Sunday, September 18, Australian time).
The award winners included ABC Landline reporter Pip Courtney, who was named the world’s best rural
broadcaster for a piece that included images filmed by her husband, John Bean. She dedicated the win to
Bean, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month while filming for the ABC.
Australians won three out of four categories in the broadcast section as well as the overall prize, and one of
three categories in the photography section. Australian journalists were also named runners-up in awards for
print journalism and a new international award for reporting on sustainability issues.  Read more....

Rural successes in ABC Local Radio Awards

Last year’s winner of the inaugural Rabobank Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting, Sarina Locke, based in Canberra, has been named ABC Rural Reporter of the Year. Rural journalists, presenters and radio stations scored well in the 2011 ABC Local Radio Awards which were announced earlier this month in Sydney. Read more...

Australian media crew loss cuts deep

Australia has been rocked by the deaths of three highly respected members of our national broadcaster in an outback helicopter crash in August.

The tragic accident on the shores of Lake Eyre claimed the lives of an Australian Broadcasting Corporation crew – the pilot John Ticehurst, reporter Paul Lockyer and cameraman John Bean.

The loss has been especially poignant for the rural media community as John was married to award winning ABC Landline journalist Pip Courtney. Read more....

Award winners honoured at SA lunch

Two ACAJ national award winners from South Australia were honoured recently at a lunch event in Adelaide. ACAJ president Liz Harfull presented certificates to John Deere Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing runner-up, Nigel Austin, and this year’s winner of the Alltech Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award, Deanna Lush. Nigel is rural editor of The Advertiser, and Deanna is the editor of the Stock Journal. The Alltech prize will take Deanna to the IFAJ congress in Canada in September. The overall winner of the writing prize, Ashley Walmsley, from Good Fruit and Vegetables magazine will also be attending as part of his prize.

Stock Journal editor wins national leadership award

Stock Journal editor Deanna Lush is heading to Canada in September after winning the 2011 Alltech Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award, organised annually by the ACAJ and sponsored by global animal nutrition company, Alltech. As the winner, she will attend the 2011 IFAJ Congress and participate in a special three-day ‘boot camp’. The tailor-made professional development program will also involve 10 other young leaders selected from around the world. Read more...

Australian rural journalists heading to IFAJ congress in Canada

Four Australian rural journalists have won professional development opportunities as part of an expanded awards program developed by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists and its state-based rural media clubs.

Television journalists Pip Courtney and Kathy McLeish, and print journalists Ashley Walmsley and Richard Fox, will all travel to Ontario, Canada, in September to attend this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists congress. Read more

National broadcast award winners announced

Experienced Queensland ABC television journalist Pip Courtney is heading to Canada to represent Australia after winning the 2011 Rabobank Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting. She took out the overall prize in the prestigious competition with ‘Pipe Dreams’, a story about the coal seam gas industry and its impact on farmers broadcast nationally on Landline in May, 2010. The piece also won the television category of the Star Prize, which is organised annually by the ACAJ to honour excellence in reporting on issues relating to agriculture.

ABC rural reporter Julia Holman, based in Canberra, won the radio category with a story about the locust plague which last year affected farmers across south-eastern Australia, and WA rural reporter, Flint Duxfield, won the highly competitive online category with a web feature exploring how Australian farmers are using social media platforms to market produce, source information and communicate with customers.

Find out the full results and judges comments, and take a look at the winners...

Queensland rural writer to represent Australia at international congress

Queensland-based rural journalist Ashley Walmsley has won the 2011 John Deere Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing and a trip to Canada later this year to attend an international gathering of his peers.
Walmsley’s article about the Asian honeybee incursion in Australia was judged the winning entry in the national competition organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ). ‘Asian Invasion’ was cover story for the November 2010 issue of the Good Fruit and Vegetables magazine which he edits for Rural Press Ltd.
South Australian journalist and author, Nigel Austin, who is rural editor for The Advertiser, was named runner-up, with ‘The Great Grain Gain’, a story focusing on the revitalisation of the Australian grain industry, published in the May 2010 edition of the paper’s Business Monthly publication. Read more...

Young rural journalist award on offer

Rural journalists up the age of 35 years can now enter a prestigious national award which will give them the opportunity to attend a gathering of their peers from around the world.

The Alltech Australian Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award is being organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) in association with Alltech Biotechnology Pty Ltd.

Entries close Friday, June 3, 2011 and to qualify, journalists must be a member of a state rural press club affiliated with the ACAJ. 

The winner will attend the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) annual congress in Guelph and Niagara Falls, Ontario, from September 14 to 18, 2011. In a major new initiative coordinated by the IFAJ and sponsored by Alltech, they will also participate in a special three-day ‘boot camp’ before the main congress. Read more

Cheerful sunflower pic wins national photo award

A farmer admiring a sunflower with petals removed to form a cheerful face is the winner of the 2011 Australian Star Prize for Rural Photography. The image with the sun peeping through the farmers arm was captured by New South Wales photographer Michael Petey and published in The Land on June 10, 2010. The photo won the People Category of the Star Prize before going on to take the overall award. The Nature/landscape Category was won by South Australian photographer Mark Brake from The Advertiser, and the Production Category was won by Steve Hynes, with a photograph published in the Warnambool Standard. A photo taken by another Advertiser photographer, Tait Schmaal, was highly commended. Read more...

Win-win from growth in Australian award prizes

Rewarding excellence in rural journalism with professional development opportunities supported through corporate partnerships has proved to be a successful strategy for the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists and its affiliated state clubs.
ACAJ president Liz Kellaway said five outstanding rural journalists will be sponsored to attend the September 2011 IFAJ Congress in Canada through an expansion of the prestigious Australian rural media awards program, including major new prizes worth $10,000, and support of state clubs.  Read more

Japanese and Australian communicators link
When the Japanese rural media wanted to learn more about the impact of disastrous floods on the sugar industry in Australia, the international contact network was put to good use.
Yamada Masaru of the Japanese Agricultural Journalists Association got in touch with his colleagues at the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists.

ACAJ immediate past president Gordon Collie became a tour guide for Hana Saito, a photo journalist with the daily Japan Agricultural News. Read More

Go kindly Colin Munro

Australian rural broadcasting legend and former ACAJ president Colin Munro has died at the age of 70. The former head of the ABC’s highly regarded rural department, Colin had a career spanning some 40 years with the national broadcaster. He was among those who helped to establish the ACAJ in Australia, and organise and host two IFAJ world congresses in 1988 and 2000. Colin retired from the ABC and as president of the ACAJ president in 2005. In 2007 he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his service to regional Australia through the promotion and preservation of rural culture, particularly through television and radio. Colin had slipped progressively into advanced dementia in the past year and suffered several strokes last Friday, remaining in a coma until his death on November 29.

“We are going to miss him,” says ACAJ president Liz Harfull. “For many of us he was the voice of rural Australia – a great raconteur, a talented broadcaster, a true gentleman, and passionately committed to telling the stories of the Australian bush. His efforts when head of the rural department were critical to encouraging the ABCs ongoing commitment to regional Australia, and his long-term support and volunteer efforts helped to sustain the ACAJ and its ongoing development. He was an extremely worthy ambassador for his country and its rural media sector through his involvement with the IFAJ, representing us with honour, wit and intelligence.”
Read Colin's obituary and listen to some audio highlights of his career. 
Listen to this report on his funeral and tributes paid by colleagues from around Australia.

Read this tribute prepared for the ACAJ by ABC staffer Tim Lee.

Rabobank announces increased sponsorship for broadcast award

Australia’s best rural broadcaster will attend a gathering of their international peers in Canada next year thanks to increased sponsorship for the Rabobank Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting. Major rural lender, Rabobank, has signed a two-year sponsorship agreement with the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ), providing airfares and registration up to a value of $5000 per year. The sponsorship will fund professional development opportunities for the overall winner, in the form of attending the annual congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), which brings together rural journalists and communicators from around the world. Read more...

ACAJ launches 2011 Star Prize awards

Interest in quality rural journalism will step up a notch next year with two international trips on offer for the first time as part of the presitigious Australian Star Prize program, organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ). Winners of the John Deere Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing and the Rabobank Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting will attend the IFAJ annual congress in Canada in September, 2011.  “We are delighted to provide this exciting opportunity for professional development as part of our ongoing comitment to encouraging excellence in rural journalism,” said ACAJ president Liz Harfull in releasing details of the 2011 awards program.  The suite of awards also incorporates the Australian Star Prize for Rural Photography, with categories for the best people, production and landscape/nature photos. Read more...

ACAJ President visits the Ekka

Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists President Liz Harfull was a special guest at the Queensland Rural Press Club’s Ekka breakfast, held during the Royal Brisbane Show in August.
The event lived up to its tradition with a sellout crowd to hear Iain Mars the CEO of Brazilian-owned meat processing giant, Swift Australia.Liz has become a best-selling author with the publication of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook which features country show cooks from around her home State of South Australia.The book was named runner-up in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris last year and was a finalist in the 2010 Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards.
She was at the Ekka to check out Queensland’s country cookery talent as part of her
research for a new national version.

Pictured above: At the Rural Press Club Ekka breakfast, guest speaker Iain Mars, ACAJ President Liz Harfull and Club president Genevieve McAulay.

Wrong turn, right result for Australian photographer

Taking a wrong turn has landed Victorian country photographer Nigel Hallett one of the world’s most prestigious awards for rural photography.
His photograph of a farmer cooling off while haymaking has been judged the best entry in the People category of the prestigious IFAJ Star Prize Award for Agricultural Photography. Media Release

Australia leads the world in rural broadcasting

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reporter Kerry Staight, from Adelaide, has won the inaugural IFAJ Star Prize for Agricultural Broadcasting, announced this week in Europe. She was named overall winner after taking out the television category of the awards. ABC rural reporter, Sarina Locke, from Canberra, won the radio category.

Kerry won the prize for ‘All in the Family,’ a story about the sensitive issue of succession planning, broadcast in February 2009 on the ABC’s Landline program, which is celebrating its 20th year. Watch Kerry’s story...

Sarina won the radio category for a documentary piece based around experiences in West Timor, Indonesia, where her mother worked as a veterinarian helping to contain exotic animal diseases. The story had broad airplay in June last year on local, national and international ABC radio programs. Listen to Sarina’s story...

Both journalists qualified for the international awards after winning the Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting, sponsored by Rabobank. Read the full story.....

Haymaker image judged best rural photo

Making hay while the sun shines is hot work. This rural truth was the inspiration and the perspiration for the Australia Star Prize for Rural Photography’s winning picture for 2010.

Victorian photographer Nigel Hallett took the winning shot which was published in the Colac Herald. It captured a worker in the field stripped to the waist cooling off with a water bottle.

Competition judge Peter McNamara said it was a great rural Australian image. Media Release

New Stock and Land editor wins national leadership award
New Stock and Land editor and former editor of the Stock Journal, Tom Dawkins, is heading to Europe next month after winning the Alltech Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award. A panel of three judges selected the young South Australian from a record number of candidates who entered from across Australia. Co-presenter of the ABC Country Hour in South Australia, Annabelle Homer, was named runner-up.

As the winner, Tom will attend the 2010 congress of the IFAJ in Belgium from April 17 to 21, with leading rural journalists and communicators from some 30 countries. The cost of his attendance, including airfares and registration, will be covered by global animal nutrition company, Alltech, which sponsors the award. Read more...

ABC journalist wins inaugural national broadcasting award
A skilful and creative radio documentary has taken out the overall prize in the inaugural Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting. Canberra-based ABC journalist Sarina Locke won the new award with a piece based around a visit to West Timor where she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Dr Russ Locke, who worked there 15 years ago, helping village women to vaccinate their chickens as part of an AusAid project. Sarina was presented with a $1000 cheque by award sponsor Rabobank at a gathering of the Farm Writers Association of NSW in Sydney today (March 26). Sarina won the overall award after winning the radio category. Listen to Sarina’s winning entry...

Adelaide-based ABC Television journalist Kerry Staight won the television category with her piece, ‘All in the Family’, broadcast on ABC Landline on February 11, 2009. View Kerry’s award-winning entry

Ian Doyle from Doyle Media Services, also based in Adelaide, was given an encouragement award in the category for online video, for a piece broadcast via the S. Kidman and Co website. View his winning piece

For judges comments and more information about the awards Media Release

Wodonga journalist wins national award again

The writing skills of young Victorian journalist John Conroy have won him the ACAJ Star Prize for Rural Journalism for the second year in a row.
An international panel of judges has named The Border Mail journalist as the best rural writer of the year for his feature ‘Out west, where the rain don’t fall’. Mr Conroy will now represent Australia in the world’s most prestigious professional competition for rural reporters – the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize for Agricultural Journalism.

The Australian prize was organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ), the national umbrella organisation for the five state-based rural press clubs.

Media Release

The Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting, sponsored by Rabobank, is a new award which offers a cash prize of $1,000

Major rural lender, Rabobank, has come on board as sponsor of Australia’s first national broadcast award for rural media. Finalists in the Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting will now compete for $1000 in prize money. The winner will also get to represent their country in the first ever international award for rural broadcasting, due to be announced in Belgium in April 2010. The broadcast award is open to journalists working in radio, television and preparing video and podcasts for internet-based media. “Australia has a very high standard of rural journalism and we are very pleased to recognise in particular quality broadcast media in the rural sector,” said Rabobank general manager, Rural Australia, Peter Knoblanche.“Rural broadcast journalists often work under challenging circumstances, producing stories in isolation, with limited time and resources. It is important the efforts of these journalists are acknowledged and they have the opportunity to compete on the world stage.” Read more...

Alltech Award launched in Brisbane

Entries are now open for the 2010 Alltech Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award.

This national award offers travel and registration to attend the IFAJ World Congress in Belgium next April.

Alltech’s Emily Naylor launched the award at the Rural Press Club November lunch which featured a presentation by the 2009 recipient, ABC Country Hour Toowoomba-based reporter Arlie Douglas on her experience at the Texas, USA Congress.

The award is open to all financial members working in the rural media under the age of 32, with a single national judging.

Entries close on January 15. Full details here (PDF)

Pictured right at the Alltech Award launch in Brisbane were Emily Boyd, Alltech, the 2009 winner Arlie Douglas and Gordon Collie.

Expanded rural media awards search for best in the bush

• First national rural broadcasting award announced
• $1000 for best rural writing
• Prizes for best people, production and landscape photos

Three major national awards for journalists and photographers covering rural issues have been announced today by the Australian Council for Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ).

“The annual Star Prize Awards are the most prestigious national awards dedicated to celebrating excellence in our rural media, with finalists selected by Australia’s five rural press clubs,” said ACAJ president Liz Harfull. Media Release

Win a trip to Europe - entries open for young journalist award

A national award for rural journalists will send a young Australian to Europe next year to attend an international gathering of their peers from around the world.

The prestigious Alltech Australian Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award, now in its fifth year, is being organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) in association with Alltech Biotechnology Pty Ltd.

The winner will attend the annual International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) congress in Ostend, Belgium, from April 17 to 21, 2010. The scholarship will cover airfares and registration costs for the congress, up to a value of $50  00.  Media Release

Alltech award winners are grinners

Alltech Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award 2009 winner Arlie Douglas said: ‘I smile even as I write about the highlights of the 2009 IFAJ Congress’. Read Arlie’s report about her wonderful week in Texas.

Students with an interest in rural journalism are invited to enter the JB Fairfax Award for Rural Journalism.

The Award encourages students of studies relevant to rural affairs to consider a career in rural journalism upon graduation. One award of $10,000 is available to contribute to the cost of student's studies and an article by the winning student will be published in a major rural publication. Students must submit a feature article of up to 1,200 words and demonstrate an active interest in rural affairs. The closing date for applications is 13 November 2009.
Detailed information can be found on the Royal Agricultural Society Foundation website

ACAJ elects new president

Best-selling author and freelance rural journalist Liz Harfull has been elected president of the ACAJ. The first South Australian to hold the position, Liz brings 30 years’ experience as a journalist and public relations consultant to her new role. She will also continue to serve as the ACAJ’s official delegate to the IFAJ which links rural journalists, photographers and communicators with their peers in more than 30 countries.

The ACAJ annual meeting also elected Queensland-based journalist and media consultant Jane Milburn as vice president. Victorian communicator Emily Bogue is the new secretary. Marketing and promotions consultant Bob Snewin, from Adelaide, continues as treasurer. link to full report

Arlie Douglas joins young journalists in Texas

Australian Arlie Douglas (second from right) joined 10 other young colleagues from around the world brought to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Texas by sponsor Alltech.
Arlie, who is the ABC rural reporter on the Darling Downs in Queensland, won the 2009 Alltech Young Leaders in Rural Journalism Award organized by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists.
The group is pictured at the conference in Fort Worth with IFAJ secretary general Owen Roberts (second from the left at rear) and Alltech North American Public Relations Manager Billy Frey (right). View larger picture

Australians sparkle in international Star Prize

Two Australians took out major awards in the prestigious 2009 Star Prize competition for journalists and photographers at the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists World Congress in Texas, USA.
A photo by Evan Collis and an article by John Conroy were honoured in strong competition from communicators in more than 30 IFAJ member countries around the world.
Western Australian-based freelance photographer Evan Collis won the prize for the best photo depicting production aspects of farming in the Star Prize for Agricultural Photography, and Victorian reporter John Conroy was runner-up in the Star Prize for Agricultural Journalism which is sponsored by John Deere.
Certificates for the two winners will be presented during the Rural Press Club of Victoria’s annual awards night. The Victorian club is affiliated with the IFAJ through the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists.
link to full report

Jane Milburn joins leadership program

ACAJ secretary Jane Milburn has been awarded a scholarship from Rural Press Limited to join the prestigious Australian Rural Leadership Program

for 2009-2010.

Jane, an experienced Brisbane-based rural journalist and consultant, is currently media manager with State broadacre farm group AgForce.

Prior to taking up her position with the ACAJ, Jane completed a three year term as president of the Queensland Rural Press Club.

The leadership program enhances the skills of talented individuals from all over Australia who have a commitment to building a prosperous future for rural Australia. Full story

ACAJ executive changes 2008-09
The Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists has made changes to it’s leadership team at the 2008 annual meeting.
(5 September 2008)

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