Daily Mercury takes top honours at 113th QCPA awards
The Daily Mercury’s commitment to the Mackay community, telling your stories and pushing for change, has won top honours at the Qld Country Press Association awards.
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Dedication to the Mackay community together with storytelling through both words and pictures have proved to be a winning combination for the Daily Mercury.
The Mercury took home four wins and three places from the 113th annual Queensland Country Press Association awards in Brisbane on Friday night.
It has traditionally been an awards night reserved for non-daily newspapers but after the year that was, organisers decided to add digital publications to the categories and for that we are grateful.
Being able to celebrate the work we’ve done over the past year is welcome for our team and our community whose stories matter.
Deputy Editor Tara Miko accepted the Mercury’s award for Best Editorial Campaign – Online for Hub for Our Heroes which we launched in March and is pushing for a new home for the Mackay RSL Sub-branch and a wellness centre at Kinchant Dam for our veterans and first responders.
The award recognisees the leadership role online publishers play in their communities – initiating and championing campaigns on local issues.
“Some outstanding and emotive topics addressed sensitively,” judges said.
I got up on stage after winning Best Promotion for our My Town campaign, which is also a finalist in the Global Media Awards being announced later this week.
My Town seeks to discover community champions whose tireless work behind the scenes made their towns and localities thrive.
It is a body of work about you, our readers, and the communities that you call home.
Our news brand is community and that is why My Town works.
Judges wrote: “In very strong competition and under the Covid cloud, this exceptionally comprehensive My Town promotion started life in print and then transitioned when the Mercury went online, engaging Mackay’s regional communities and building the online audience and subscriptions. A major project spanning a year.”
I also collected best news picture for former Mercury photographer Tony Martin’s Beyond the Scars series and an honourable mention for Merc court reporter Janessa Ekert for excellence in journalism alongside Joe Hinchliffe.
Beyond the Scars series:
Why Tiana is stronger inside and out
‘I had 70-odd stitches in my head’
She died four times and came back with a laugh
Working hard for a healthy heart
For Martin’s entries, judge Adam Hourigan wrote: “In a world of crashes and other hard news this is the standout of the category. Simple, brave, great expression and all on a blank wall. Great work.”
The Daily Mercury came second in the category Overall Journalistic Excellence for online publication behind the Sunshine Coast Daily.
The Merc also came equal second with the Sunshine Coast Daily for best online publication, with My Weekly Preview on the Sunshine Coast taking out the category.
We thank the QCPA for broadening the categories so we could be part of this magical night and celebrate all that is regional journalism.
It’s a hard slog but we love it and we are honoured we can keep you, our readers, informed, entertained and engaged.
So thank you to each and every one of your too for making all this possible.
Have a wonderful week.
Rae Wilson, Daily Mercury Editor
Originally published as Daily Mercury takes top honours at 113th QCPA awards
Classy style inside and out let down by ‘agricultural’ feel
With good looks and a refined cabin, the Mazda CX-60 Azami diesel manages to impress and disappoint at the same time.
‘Green shoots’: CBA shows we’ve finally hit a turning point
The banking giant is the closest thing Australia has to a real-time measure of the economy. And big investors are now betting on an important shift coming.