Photo: Emma Carter

Winning newsletter

Our Newsletter wins at annual Victorian awards

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Gemma, Alana and Connor, co-authors of the 'Best History Story' awarded by the Community Newspapers Association of Victoria. Photographer: Emma Carter.

The Brown Hill Community Newspaper was celebrated at the recent statewide awards. We were delighted to be recognised for all of our hard work at the Community Newspapers Association of Victoria (CNAV) annual conference on 13 October.

It was an honour to be awarded as a finalist in one and winner in two of the nine categories. Both of the winning articles were written by local school students.

There are approximately 200 community newspapers in Victoria, 70 of which are members of the CNAV. The newspapers are mostly produced by volunteers, with some of the larger ones employing paid staff. They range from weekly to quarterly editions and some have been running for decades!

This is the third time that representatives from the Brown Hill Community Newsletter have attended the conference. As it was only up the road in Creswick, five of our volunteers went along.

Volunteer Editor, Sarah Greenwood-Smith, accepted the awards and said, "It is such an honour for our newsletter to be recognised at the statewide awards. There are some well-established and very well-regarded community newspapers represented in these awards. We are so pleased for our local school students to be rewarded for their contributions."

Certificates and vouchers for a local bookshop were presented to the students at their school assemblies.

The winners were:

Best History Story - Winner

Brown Hill Police Station: a brief history

Edition 9. October 2017, page 1

Judge's comments: This is the winner as three of the co-authors are primary school children and we need to encourage a sense of history in children so they will want to be the custodians of our community history in the future. Interviewing people for their memories, deciding what is relevant to the story, finding photographs and writing the stories are all ways that kids can contribute to preserving and sharing our history. Well done to Gemma, Alana and Connor of Caledonian Primary School (and Assistant Principal Geoff Dickson) on a great little history of Brown Hill Police Station.

Best article by a person 18 years or younger - Winner

Holocaust survivor Abe Goldberg

Edition 13, June 2018, page 15

Judge's comments: This was difficult content for a ​young writer to cover. However, this author has done so respectfully and without over-dramatisation. Also, interviews can be hard to keep interesting, but this writer has done well at maintaining the readers' engagement.

Best layout and design - Finalist

Judge's comments: For a black and white low-cost newsletter this publication shows simplicity in design and layout. There are interesting photos, combined with a consistent typeface throughout and an excellent use of columns to make this newsletter easy to read.

The nine award categories in the CNAV Awards for 2018 were:

  1. Best Layout and Design
  2. Best Feature Story
  3. Best Sports Reporting
  4. Best Article by a Person 18 years or younger
  5. Best community content
  6. Best photograph
  7. Best editorial comment
  8. Best history story
  9. Best Newspaper

We would like to congratulate our friends Gayle, Barry and Ray at the Buninyong & District News, who were finalists in three categories, Best Sports Reporting, Best Community Content and Best History Story.

The CNAV is the peak body representing not-for-profit community newspapers across Victoria. The volunteer-run group works actively with its members to enhance the capacity and standing of community newspapers, to enable them to fully realise their vital role in communities. See: cnav.org.au

We are also working with the City of Ballarat to form a 'Ballarat Community Newspapers Network'. The aim is to keep the groups connected during the year, to share ideas, workshop challenges and help each other. Members will include:

  • Brown Hill Community Newsletter
  • Buninyong & District News
  • Learmonth Thunderer
  • The Very Best of Miners Rest

If you know of any other local community newspapers, please ask them to get in touch via email: newsletter@brownhill.vic.au.

A huge congratulations to the volunteers who write for, put together and deliver the Brown Hill Community Newsletter. What an achievement!

Sarah Greenwood-Smith, Volunteer Editor, Brown Hill Community Newsletter and Directory Committee

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Volunteers from local community newspapers at the 2018 CNAV Conference in Creswick. Back row (L-R) Werner Oellering (Miners Rest), Liz Charles (Learmonth), Hazen Cleary (Brown Hill), Ange Davies (Brown Hill), Eleanor (Learmonth), Brian Green (Brown Hill), Anne Brennan (Creswick), Sarah Greenwood-Smith (Brown Hill) and Roy Rhoderick (Learmonth). Photographer: John Ellis.