Women in Media Australia is proud to shine a light on outstanding reportage coming from our current crop of young female journalists working across our regions.
For the eighth year, Women in Media Australia, in partnership with the National Press Club of Australia and with the generous support of Bond University, is calling for entries for the country’s preeminent award for up-and-coming regional reporters.
The Caroline Jones Women in Media Young Journalist’s Award recognises tenacity and passion for the craft of journalism from young women working across rural and regional Australia. It seeks to immerse the award winner in an intensive experience of journalism, politics and government in Canberra and to open doors to the experience and generosity of some of the country’s top female journalists.
The award includes:
$3000 personal learning fund
Travel and accommodation to Canberra for five nights
National Press Club lunch attendance and question
Mentorship from members of the Canberra Women in Media Committee
The winner will spend time in a variety of Canberra and Press Gallery newsrooms throughout the week.
This award seeks to foster commitment and passion for journalism among young women practitioners in rural and regional Australia. It is named in honour of Caroline Jones AO (1938-2022), a ground-breaking journalist who joined the ABC in 1963 and became the first female reporter for This Day Tonight. She reported for Four Corners between 1972-1981 before presenting Radio National’s Search for Meaning program. In 1996, Jones became the presenter of Australian Story.
She was a beloved co-patron of Women in Media, a mentoring, networking, and professional development initiative for Australian women in media modelled on a successful group first established in Western Australia in 2005. The award is the first of its kind in encouraging young female rural and regional journalists to experience first-hand the complexities of the media and political landscape across the nation’s capital.
It is a life-changing, horizon-broadening and immersive prize, exposing the winner to the institutions of Canberra, including the Press Gallery and National Press Club. It also brings them into contact with the Women in Media network – providing mentorship, guidance, and insights from Canberra’s most prominent female journalists.
“This Award is offered as a tribute to the women who, sometimes far from colleagues or mentors, choose to cover regional or remote areas of our country, reporting on local issues which are often of vital national interest,”
said Caroline.
“Maybe it's because I come from the bush; or because my grandfather Ashley Pountney was editor of the first newspapers in NW NSW, this Award is close to my heart.”
The Judging Panel:
Emma Macdonald, Women in Media Canberra Convenor
Danielle Cronin, Women in Media Board member
Cath Webber, Bond University
Eligibility and Judging Criteria:
The award is presented annually and is open to any rural and regional journalist working in a non-metropolitan area. Applicants must be aged up to 30 years and have at least one year of full-time industry experience.
Applicants are asked to submit a portfolio of their work across any media platform (television, newspaper, radio, online).
A minimum of one and maximum of three stories must demonstrate tenacity and passion for journalism, an adherence to ethical standards, and a contribution to community understanding and discourse on an issue of choice.
Judges have the discretion to not make the award in any one year.
Stories may include a single issue or a range of issues, including opinion pieces, features, or news. Submitted work must be the original work of the applicant.
How to enter:
Entries should include PDF copies of text articles or URL links to recordings of broadcasts on television or radio.
The submission should include a written statement of up to 500 words outlining the impact of the work, and an expression of the applicant’s approach to her journalism. A brief CV should be included.
For security reasons, you will be required to sign-in to complete the form but please email awards@womeninmedia.com.au if you have any queries or experience any problems with this process.
Applications close 5 pm, September 30.
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