The Cobar Weekly collected two gongs at the 2024 Country Press NSW Awards Dinner on Saturday night in Dubbo.
It’s the first year the Cobar paper has entered the awards having only joined the association last year.
“We were thrilled with the win,” Cobar Weekly’s managing editor Sharon Harland said.
“We won Best Technical Innovation which recognised our move to printing in full colour and we were also runners-up for Best Advertising Feature with our 2023 Christmas Feature.
“These awards are a testament to the hard work, dedication, and passion that we pour into our community newspaper,” Mrs Harland said.
“After 37 years of printing in black and white, with just the occasional colour cover for special occasions, the transition to full colour was a monumental step for us and we’re very grateful to have been selected by the NSW Government’s Regional Media Fund to receive grant funding to purchase a high speed colour printer to make this happen.
“Being able to print in colour has greatly enhanced the product we produce each week.
“We take immense pride in our little paper, and so too does the Cobar community, our dedicated volunteer committee, our loyal readers, and our supportive advertisers.”
The awards night was a resounding success, with 106 members, sponsors and guests attending the regional event at the Dubbo RSL Club.
Minister for Agriculture, Regional NSW and Western NSW, The Hon Tara Moriarty MLC, delivered an address on the NSW Government’s commitment to the regional newspaper industry, to be delivered through a $3 million second package of the Regional Media Fund.
Other guest award presenters included Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton, Nationals MLC Sam Farraway, Labor MLC Stephen Lawrence, Nationals MLC Sarah Mitchell, and Jamie Chaffey (Country Mayors Association).
Lily Plass of the Coonamble Times was the Young Journalist of the Year; Sharon Bonthuys of the Narromine Star was Journalist of the Year; the Narromine Star was judged to be the Best Small Newspaper (less than 700 copies per week); the Gunnedah Times took out the Best Paid Newspaper award while Dubbo Photo News was the Best Free Newspaper and also won Best Sports Coverage; The Riverina Grazier won Best News Story and the Gilgandra Weekly had the Best Sports Story.
