On the Frontline bushfire podcast prompts warning sign donation

The Daily Examiner journalist Jenna Thompson’s podcast on bushfires which ravaged the Clarence Valley has prompted a donation to boost safety measures in the region.

Journalist Jenna Thompson’s exemplary coverage of bushfires that ravaged the Clarence Valley has been recognised with a national award and heartfelt praise from the frontline heroes she interviewed.

It has also prompted a $100,000 donation from News Corp Australia to ensure her region is better prepared for future bushfires.

Ms Thompson’s On The Frontline podcast, which she produced for The Daily Examiner, gave members of four Clarence Valley rural fire brigades a voice as they tried to make sense of the battles they had faced.

Lawrence Rural Fire Service captain Scott Campbell and Nymboida resident Tony Cilia moments after they survived a deadly fire overrun during the Liberation Trail firestorm on November 8, 2019.

Her efforts were rewarded on Wednesday when she won News Corp Australia’s Achievements in Community Journalism award.

She was at the Lawrence brigade’s headquarters when the win was announced and was quick to acknowledge the volunteers with her in the room.

“Without them trusting me to tell their story, this project never would have happened,” Ms Thompson said.

Her podcast featured interviews with eight rural firefighters who had battled the flames during the 2019 bushfires, including the Nymboida fires which razed the community in November of that year.

Much of Nymboida was destroyed by a bushfire on November 8, 2019.

News Corp’s leaders were inspired by the reporting to reach out to NSW Rural Fire Service Association president Scott Campbell, who is also captain of the Lawrence Rural Fire Brigade, to see how the company could help.

News Corp then committed $100,000 to the NSW Rural Fire Service Association to fund a pilot program of automated fire danger rating signs in the Clarence Valley, with the hope to extend the technology to other regions in NSW and other states as well.

Mr Campbell said a lot of the signs used in NSW were manually operated and required volunteers to go out to change them when fire conditions changed.

He said the donation was magnificent.

“That will affect a lot of communities, it will help a lot of people and it will make a big difference next time we have a fire season like we did back in 2019,” Mr Campbell said.

He said Ms Thompson’s podcast was the first time he and others had told their story.

The Daily Examiner journalist Jenna Thompson receives News Corp Australia's Achievements in Community Journalism award from Rural Fire Service Association president Scott Campbell.

“I thought I’d be there for an hour and two-and-a-half hours later I stopped talking,” Mr Campbell said.

“The way Jenna has told our story in the podcast, I don’t think we could ask for anything better.”

News Corp Australia’s community ambassador Penny Fowler said outstanding storytelling like the Grafton Daily Examiner’s podcast proved hyper-local reporting was helping to build a better and more informed Australia.

“We are delighted to support the Clarence Valley with technology that will make volunteer firefighters’ heroic work significantly easier and keep the community safe and informed,” Ms Fowler said.