The quality of papers overall was probably the highest I have seen since I started judging.

They look attractive and, mostly, the stories are well written.

Most photographs were accompanied by names, which is crucial as newspapers are still a region’s best form of history recording.

I have mentioned it before (this could be a repeat paragraph) but I believe more time could be spent reporting on local government affairs that directly affect people. The ‘bigger’ papers have done it well but there is room for all papers to do it. I understand budgets and time are tight, however, going to meetings provides a good news source and builds good relationships that can be beneficial for other news/community news.

I believe more papers would benefit from an editorial or leader. These opinion pieces should be an important part of each paper and can help stimulate letters and community action.

Honourable mention

The Bunyip

This is one of the bigger papers and locals are getting good value for money. It covers local news well and its sports coverage is excellent. The sports covered are wide ranging and there are a number of good photographs. The journalists took some creative photographs to accompany their stories. There were ad features in the issues and a very healthy business directory to boost revenue.

Third

The Leader

This is a regular in the top handful of South Australia newspapers and it was only just pipped for second place. It is a true old-fashioned newspaper that continues to service it communities very well. There are many, many news, community news and sport stories accompanied by local photos. I would like to see the sports stories broken up a little more but readers would certainly get good value for money. And the owners must be happy with the revenue generated by the extensive advertising; including run of press, features, special publications (the Shop Local Passport idea is one well worth copying) and the classifieds.

Second

Murray Pioneer

Even the local radio station advertises in this publication and why not? It obviously has a good community connection with a number of local letters appearing in each paper. Its front pages are clean and clear, which attract readers. There is a clear headline and story hierarchy on each page so the reader isn’t confused as to what is most important. The sports coverage is very healthy and covers a diverse range of sports. Each issue had a high percentage of run of press advertising; there were a number of ad features; and the classifieds were outstanding for this day and age. One slight criticism would be that some of the news stories were very long, but we all know how hard it can be to be concise under deadline pressure.

First

Yorke Peninsula Country Times

The Country Times this year stood out from the rest with strong news and excellent design. Front pages were strong. The February 4 front page about a drowning victim didn’t feature a person in the photograph but it compelled me to look at the photo and read the story. The stories were generally very well written and or edited, and covered important local issues – some based local government and some community generated. It also has an editorial in each issue. The Country Times has an excellent sport section with a huge number of local names and faces – it was consistent in this in all four of the issues presented. The page layout is clean and the ad stack supports this. Revenue would be strong with a high percentage of run of press advertising, coupled with four to five pages of classified and display classified advertising, and regular ad features. The staff should be proud of their efforts and the community hopefully understands how well it is served by this publication.

The rest

The Islander

Stan Gorton is a great example of a good country journalist; he understands what a good story is and his reporting is always on point. The Islander has good sports coverage and photographs, and continues to serve the Island well.

The Whyalla News

Very much improved this year with a higher level of local news, community news and sport from each of the regions covered. It had lots of local faces in the photos with names and ad content looked to be a lot better than it has been. Well done to the journalists, sales people and editor. This could well be used as an example of how to make combined newspapers work as it didn’t seem to be a combination at all.

Fleurieu Sun

This is packed with local news and local letters, indicating a good community connection. It also has a good sport section covering a wide variety of sports. It had good advertising content and the 8-page real estate section was pleasing to see. In some issues there were some quite large photos rather than several smaller photos, but in general this is a good read.

Victor Harbor Times

There were only three to judge. This looks like the free to the Fleurieu Sun with large photos and font sizes. Most photographs had names and there was good community news coverage.

Centralian and Tennant Creek Today

These papers carry a high number of police news stories, which readers generally like to see. There was a lot of election coverage in the issues presented and also a lot of sports coverage, which included a wide variety of sports.

Southern Argus

For a small paper it really punches above its weight. Its local news was consistent in each of the papers and it had a good number of advertising features. As has long been the case, the Argus has a massive sports section with plenty of local reports, results and photographs.

Border Times

Originally coming from a very small paper background, I have a soft spot for this paper and understand how hard it can be to gather enough news. For what is essentially a 12-page paper, it does offer the read some good news and sport with local faces and names.

Murray Valley Standard

It is one of the more consistently good-looking papers with plenty of local news and sports results, in which women feature prominently, which is pleasing to see as traditionally in newspapers, this hasn’t been the case. This won its category last year and would have continued to please readers this year.

Plains Producer

This paper covers a large area and delivers well. It has large page numbers for what was once considered a ‘small’ paper and they are chock full of content. It has a lot of local news and sport, and the layout is pleasing to the eye. This paper is always in the top few when judging.

The Advocate

This paper covers the largest geographical area of any so it has to be a lot of things. The editor would often struggle when trying to share front and back pages between the different areas to try and keep all readers happy. I think it could benefit from more ‘hard’ news but in general it is a good looking newspaper.

Port Lincoln Times

As with the Victor Harbour Times, this looks like the free to the Advocate. The advertising was sparce, which meant stories and photographs had to fill the space, which led to some pages looking very texty.

Border Watch

This is a big, fat newspaper that readers shouldn’t whinge paying a premium for. It has a lot of news from across its districts, which is representative of the populous and busy area it is based in. Its sports coverage is broad and the rural pages were extensive with good advertising support. This is the same for the real estate section. A lack of names on some photographs let is down a little, but this is a good read.

Mt Barker Courier

Like the border Watch, this paper is in a very densely populated and busy place with lots of news to report on and publish. The real estate section is well supported by advertisers and there were ad features used to generate extra income. I’m not sure about sport lift-outs, but this one is packed full of local sport results, reports and photographs. I’m also not sure about capitals for headlines but why change it if it works.