GUN Queensland Country Life journalists Lucy Kinbacher’s and Kelly Butterworth’s outstanding talents have been recognised at Queensland’s Rural Press Club prestigious media awards.
Roma-based Lucy Kinbacher was awarded the Excellence in Rural Journalism (Print) winner for a series of articles on the toxic weed pimelea.
Competition judges said they were impressed at Ms Kinbacher’s persistence with this grassroots story. “Through visits to farms, the entry shone a light into the depth of a problem by giving voice to the many producers grappling with the deadly impacts of this plant on their stock,” the judges said. “It ultimately influenced action towards helping find a solution.”
Emerald-based journalist and talented photographer Kelly Butterworth scored the Excellence in Rural Photography (Production) for her series of pictures from the Anderson family’s cotton harvest in Central Queensland.
The judges described the main image is a celebration of the end of the farm production cycle.
“The lines lead the eyes through the cotton crop to the pride of the farmers’ faces as they pause mid-harvest,” the judges said. “This image and the others in the series honestly capture the colours of the landscape and the detail of the plants and machinery.”
Other winners included ABC Wide Bay rural reporter Kallee Buchanan, who topped the radio section with her piece on farm lending practices.
The television award went to ABC TV Landline reporter Kathy McLeish’s story from North West Queensland on the rediscovered night parrot.
The Overall Journalism award winners were the ABC’s Dominique Schwartz and Alexandra Blucher for their online series on the Inland Rail.
The overall runner-up was QCL’s Lucy Kinbacher.