Whilst Kinglake Ranges News has never received a Quill or Walkley Award, no other local journalist has either.
Best Local Reporter awards from the Victorian Country Press Association (VCPA) are an advertising award for advertising sales. It is not a peer voted journalism award based on quality journalism.
A PhD qualified senior journalist, lecturer and tutor (name withheld*) at La Trobe University told Kinglake Ranges News that awards from the VCPA had nothing to do with journalism at all and would be a ‘waste of your [my] time.’
“I wouldn’t waste your time trying to achieve an advertising sales award.
“Do you want to be a journalist or an advertising sales rep?” the lecturer said.
The VCPA website states it’s “A one-stop service for advertisers trying to reach Victoria through print.”
“We offer advertisers direct access to a highly engaged, hard to reach regional audience, who have a strong connection to their local community.
“Representing 95 regional newspapers across Victoria, SA, NSW, Tasmania and Queensland gives us a publishing footprint that reaches 1.5 million regional consumers each week,” the VCPA website states.
At Kinglake Ranges News journalism -not advertising sales – is our aim.
*Name withheld on request.
