Entries in this year’s Barnet Award for Best Community Advertising Promotion indicate strong newspaper support for activities in the newspapers’ coverage areas.

Not only have newspapers covered the “normal” advertorial opportunities that arise during the course of a year, but have gone beyond that to get heavily involved in backing community activities and promotions with well-written stories and photographs.

The three placegetters in the award have all displayed professionalism and appear to have made significant contributions to the causes promoted.

First: MURRAY PIONEER

Australia’s premier rose festival got a huge boost via the efforts of the team at the Murray Pioneer.

The Pioneer published an “essential event guide” for the Riverland Rose and Garden Festival which is a 10-day event. In addition to the guide the paper gave the event strong support in its weekly publication.

The 20-page guide was a full-gloss, bright, open and well laid out publication with a lot of information and items of interest including participating gardens and when they were open for inspection.

Clearly, tourism plays a vital role in the well-being of the Riverland community and the Pioneer’s team, led by Kirsty Frahn and Glenda Malinovski, are to be commended for their support of the rose and garden festival.

Second: Yorke Peninsular Country Times

The York Kernewek Lowender celebrates copper mining and Cornish settlement in the Yorke Peninsular Country Times coverage area.

In 2023 the festival celebrated its 50thanniversary and the Times went all-out to make it an event to be remembered, culminating with a slick 28-page, 10,000 copies, festival guide. In addition to being inserted inside the Times in the lead up to the festival, the guide was also distributed to various tourism businesses around the Copper Coast and uploaded to the paper’s website, providing multi-format promotion for the event.

The Times also produced a very well-supported Yorke Peninsula Field Days publication during the year, showing that it is indeed invested in supporting its local communities.

Third: The Southern Argus

"The Great Duck Race" returned in 2023 and the Southern Argus was there to make sure everyone knew about it by publishing a most successful feature.

The event, which went into recess during the Covid pandemic, is organised by the Rotary Club of Strathalbyn. In its support of the event the Argus published many stories and free promotional advertisements in the period leading up to the big day.

Events, such as the duck race, are very important to small communities and the Argus has played its role in giving it excellent coverage.