The 2007 South East Australian Media Awards were held in Ballarat on 27 October 2007. The Portland Observer's Ellen Link took out the inaugural Bill Webster Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, with Brydie Flynn receiving the Ray Davis Award for the Best Young Journalist. For all the winners and judges comments, click the read more link.

BILL WEBSTER AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM – EXTRACT FROM THE NOMINATION

Ellen Linke (Portland Observer)

For more than 20 years Ellen Linke has dedicated her life to journalism, working her way up from a casual correspondent to the now managing Editor of the Portland Observer newspaper.
 
Throughout her career she has not only strived to be the best she can be but has also fostered the careers of many journalists who have gone on to be great successes within the journalism industry.

Ellen began her career in the 1980s as the Heywood correspondent for the Portland Observer, taking photographs and writing articles about newsworthy events in the Heywood area, 24 kilometres from Portland and within the Glenelg Shire.

During that time she was also called upon to fill-in at the Portland office as a casual journalist when full-time journalists were sick or on annual leave and it was in 1991 that she was offered a position with the paper as a Grade 4 journalist, working 16 hours per week.

A mere five months after a full-time position became available at the paper and Ellen was appointed, and so her full-time journalism career started.
 
She worked and studied tirelessly for two years before being upgraded to a Grade 6 journalist and taking on the role of chief of staff at the Portland Observer, a position she held for many years and eventually included the role of deputy editor.

For six years she continued to juggle the stressful demands of journalism coupled with the demanding role of chief of staff while also raising two daughters with her husband Graeme.

Ellen studied journalism full-time while working full-time, her husband worked as a casual school bus driver to be there for the children while Ellen was working and after six years, on July 12, 1999, Ellen was offered the position of managing Editor at the Portland Observer.

According to Hamilton Spectator Partnership general manager Gerard Lucas, this was a position he really had to push Ellen to accept, but eventually she agreed and eight years later she is still the managing editor of the paper.

Throughout her career Ellen has worked with, trained and guided the careers of many young journalists in the Portland area, many whom now enjoy great success within the industry.

Those in her past newsroom now include authors, television news reporters, radio journalists, media liaisons, government media advisers and print journalists for papers such as The Financial Review.

For the past seven years Ellen has been my mentor, my editor, my teacher and my friend. I too have worked my way up under her tutelage from a first year cadet to now chief of staff and deputy editor, something that could not be achieved without her dedication, confidence and belief in her staff.

All of her staff are of the same opinion, all past, present and I suspect future journalists in her newsroom are in awe of her, of her strength, dedication, knowledge and willingness to share these traits with her staff.

Ellen believes in her journalists and helps them to believe in themselves, in their own abilities. She makes us who we are, the best that we can be.

Ellen constantly goes above and beyond the call of duty. Her number one priority is the paper, late dinners, no weekends, very little annual leave and numerous headaches are part and parcel of her position, but she does it was such grace, ease and dedication.

Her contribution to the journalism industry is priceless, it is because of people like Ellen Linke that young people can learn, absorb her expertise and either move on to great success elsewhere or like me stay on and enjoy the same success within their home town.

In my opinion there is no other person like Ellen Linke, she is what a journalist, chief of staff and editor should be and what young journalists strive to become.

Her contribution to journalism is outstanding and I believe she should be recognised as an outstanding member of this industry.

CLIFF PINDER AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY – JUDGES’ COMMENTS

Winner: Denis Manktelow

Almost all photographers have that experience of being sent to a job that is essentially a dull media opportunity for the politicians or corporate Australia to show off.  What made this job, which had all the characteristics of a dull media promotion, different was that Denis appreciated that the subject, the weather and fair anticipation on his part could combine to give him that one moment of a great photograph. Without any doubt he succeeded.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM – JUDGE’S  COMMENTS

Winner: Ms Melissa Pelimeni “Cinque report”

ABC Television – Canberra

Judges chose this entry mainly on the initial impact of the piece on the viewer. Whilst the judges did not believe that it had the production values of the audio piece from Kathy Bedford of ABC Rural they did recognise that it elicited a powerful response  in viewers as the subjects exposed themselves to Melissa’s questioning. However the choice of music  and the editing could have been improved.

The judges also commend Ms Kathy Bedford for her entry, particularly for her excellent interview technique and the tight editing of the program.

RAY DAVIS AWARD FOR THE BEST YOUNG JOURNALIST– Ms Brydie Flynn

JUDGE’S  COMMENTS The judges’ pick as winner in this category is Brydie Flynn:  Brydie Flynn's stories, written in her first six months as a full-time journalist, impressed markedly with their tightly written, newsy intros and strong follow-through. Two in particular -- one about a disturbing video posted on YouTube and the other about alleged under-age prostitution – were attention-grabbers. Another strong news story reported a clash on multiculturalism between a local priest (anti) and the mayor (pro). Brydie writes with fluency and all her entries were well crafted. In career terms, she has hit the ground running.
 
Anna Lanyon's stories on health issues, in particular, were excellent. One on a woman's four-hour wait to be airlifted to a Melbourne hospital for emergency brain surgery, after she was struck by a car, raised important concerns.
 
Mark Sawa's three stories -- regarding wild horses in Kosciusko National Park, the discovery of a 103-year-old document recommending Gadara as the site for Australia's federal capital city, and Mark's first attempt at covering a rugby game -- were well chosen. His rugby coverage, in particular, was expressively written.
 
Katina Curtis's series of five stories about upgrades to Kiama Showground Pavilion took her readers competently through several stages of the to and fro of funding from the different levels of government, and differing views on design.

EXCELLENCE IN PRINT JOURNALISM – JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Winner: Sarah Allely
Illawarra Mercury
Series of articles on Killalea State Park's commercial development.
 
Sarah's dogged pursuit of this story galvanised a community into action and put State Government plans under the spotlight. Her articles revealed that part of the iconic state park was to be leased to commercial interests and that the money from the lease would probably not be returned to the area. Well written, well researched, it showed the power the local press can yield, especially when it follows through on every angle of a story.

EXCELLENCE IN NEWS REPORTING– JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Winner: WIN Television News Team
Series: Kerang Train Smash

WIN TV’s winning entry was a comprehensive and professional coverage of a breaking, major, news event. The reports reflected the seriousness and drama of the Kerang train crash. Camera work complemented the text and the delivery of the reporters, who maintained a sober attitude when presenting the stories. Other news angles were developed from the initial reports, including potential dangers at other railway crossings.
 
Highly commended: Nicole Ferrie
Bendigo Weekly
Series: Restoring Bendigo's Health
 
Nicole's series laid bare the state of a regional health service. Well researched it outlined the chronic problems throughout the various departments and outlined plans to remedy the situation in the short and long term. Her revealing interviews with health professions at the coalface as well as features on patients who are and have experienced the difficulties inherent throughout the health system created a comprehensive news package of immense public benefit.
 
Highly commended: Sarah Scopelianis
Warrnambool Standard

Sarah Scopelianos presented three strong stories, written in a style that was bright and easy to understand. The story of an apology made by a convicted paedophile priest was a good ‘get’, while the land development piece was written in a way that explained the issues to a lay audience.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NEWS CAMERA WORK – JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Winner: Aiden Boehm
WIN Television
It is hard to go past the comments of Aiden’s supervisor in judging his work, “He has the ability to witness and capture images that convey the mood and impact of the moment, leaving the viewer informed and emotionally connected to the event they’ve witnessed.” The standard of Aiden’s work belies his short twelve months working in television.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ONLINE REPORTING – JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Winner: Bernie Matthews
Freelance Journalist
Online Opinion - www.onlineopinion.com.au

The writing seemed pretty plain but only plain in that sense of meaning blunt and unadorned, which can be at times a virtue. The writing is shocking and challenges the reader’s perceptions of justice and fairness in our community.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY – JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Winner: Glen Watson
Warrnambool Standard - “Magic Michaela”, “Tastes great” and “Head over heels”.

The judges were impressed by the special style that Glen brings to every image. Indeed it is his use of light and composition that set his images apart from the competition.

Glen has a special way of taking photographs that encapsulates not only the moment but also the sense of the atmosphere of the event.

Highly commended: Darryl Fernance.
Goulburn Post
This was a series of images of a horse event that showed the need for photographers to plan where they should be if they are to capture the best of the event. Darryl not only captured the moment of the fall but continued to record the after effects of that impact on the rider, mount and spectators.

AWARD FOR THE BEST THREE HEADINGS
Winner:  Duncan Abey
Illawarra Mercury

“Rain’s gains going mainly down drain”, “Plenty of bite left in this old Bulldog” and “Glory to Stoner on high, lauds Rossi”.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS REPORTING – JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Winner: Gabrielle Hodson
Mooralbool Leader

“Saved from the knackery for champ’s role”
“Karate star juggles show jumping and ballroom dancing”

One of the important roles for journalists working in smaller communities is the need to ensure that  the news coverage is across all the interest areas. In sports reporting this need has been well met with the work of Gabrielle. With her entry she has covered three areas of sport from a surprisingly different perspective and made them of interest to all readers.