At the 109th annual conference held last Friday, the BDN won the Best News Reporting section for its coverage of two tragedies: the drowning of a father and two infant boys off a wharf at Tathra and the murder-suicide of a man and his three children near Eden.

The judges commented:

“A newspaper’s greatest challenge and its greatest reward are to be able to connect with and comfort its readers at times of immense emotional stress.

“Too much is ghoulish, too little is indifference to the community’s pain.

“Every newspaper editor and reporter should get hold of copies of the Bega District News to study its coverage…(which was )exemplary in how they take readers through bone-wrenching details and facts, empathise with them and give non-paternal guidance on how to heal.

“Momentous as these two news events were, what singled them out was the way they were written, with detail to answer all inquiries that could be answered at the time, prose that ranged from reportage to empathetic comment, all as it worked the community through its catharsis and inquisitiveness.

“Praise, where due, was reported and recorded for history so communities could in future reflect on their debt to individuals and organisations.

“The newspaper put itself at the centre of tragedies through interviews with mourners and it treated their grief with genuine reverence.

“The Bega District News wins this year’s award for remarkable coverage of two events in which it had the confidence to take stories to an eager readership while respecting the grief and vulnerability of those close to the calamities.”

Editor Steve Strevens also won a special mention in the Feature Writing section for his story on Monica Watt: A Hearty Anniversary.

The judges said the story of the second longest surviving heart transplant patient was graphic reading, well researched and carried the patient’s clear message to readers about the worth of organ donations.

In another section, the BDN was runner-up in Newspaper Marketing and Promotion with its advertising campaign, The News Angels.

In their comments the judges said:

“Why are newspapers so serious? This excellent campaign has sell, impact and chutzpah - with convincing results. It shows how an inspired approach to marketing the newspaper can transform its image and its staff and feed through to the bottom line.”