Broken Bay News won three awards at the annual Australasian Catholic Press Association Awards held in Bathurst on 12 September 2019. Melissa Loughlin, editor, received the awards from Bishop Michael McKenna of Bathurst.
Former editor of Broken Bay News and Director of Communications, Annie Carrett, received a Lifetime Membership to ACPA and gave the keynote speech at the dinner on the topic “Rebuild my House”. Annie is now the Director of the Office of the Archbishop in Melbourne, working with Archbishop Peter Comensoli.
Broken Bay News won awards for Most Improved, Highly Commended for Best Devotional Article Applying Faith to Life, and Highly Commended for Best Column.
The judges' comments on the Broken Bay News winning categories were:
Highly Commended
Catherine Day – Broken Bay News
One of the elements of an engaging blog is authenticity. Catherine has an honesty and warmth in her writing that is very appealing. She weaves her personal insights on life as a young Catholic woman into heartfelt discussions about what faith means, the importance of the church in modern life and its need for our support. She is not afraid to tackle difficult issues but does so from the prism of her empathetic take on life.
Highly Commended
Deacon Peter McCulloch – Broken Bay News
‘God is an equal partner in our marriage'
Peter McCulloch offers a first-hand experience of faith in relation to his parents and their life. In it, he shows his parents great wisdom in being aware of the important place God has in each of our lives. Peter allows insight that is profound and beautiful that also challenges us to look deeper into our own story to see where God has been working and showing us his presence. It is wonderful to see parents handing wisdom down to their children, especially wisdom that shows us the beauty of marriage and the continual call for our Church to support couples in their journey of life and faith.
Most Improved Publication
Winner
Broken Bay News
While all of the publications submitted for consideration in this category remain text- dense, the new versions of each publication were much more appealing to the eye. Several publications, however, displayed marked improvement over the previous year. Most noticeable were the use of space and colour and not only improved use of photographs but the quality and expressiveness of the photos chosen. New fonts and diversity in page layout also were obvious and successful.
This publication exhibited all of the above-mentioned improvements to the most noticeable degree, producing a very modern, clean and appealing look supported by good writing and diversity of news. Even the advertisements looked better.
The award for Best Magazine this year went to the New Zealand publication, Marist Messenger. Best Newspaper went to Southern Cross in Adelaide and Best Online Publication went to The Good Oil, an online newsletter from the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. The Good Oil was also awarded the Bishop Philip Kennedy Memorial Award for Overall Excellence in a Catholic Publication.
Catholic media and communications professionals gathered in Bathurst last week for the association’s annual conference, culminating in Mass at the Cathedral with Bishop Michael McKenna, and the awards dinner.
The awards, which are held annually, recognise excellence in Catholic magazines, newspapers and digital publications across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
Full list of winners
Best News Story
Winner
Mary Brazell – Catholic Outlook
‘Granville Parishioners gather to farewell a stranger.’
Highly Commended
Mark Bowling – The Catholic Leader
‘It’s never too late’
Best Feature Story
Winner
Debbie Cramsie – The Catholic Weekly
‘Saving Sydney’s Desperate Souls’
Highly Commended
Francine Crimmins – Australian Catholics
‘Women pioneer new models of Church’
Best Editorial
Winner
Fr Robert McCulloch – The Far East
‘Christians and Muslims in Asia and blasphemy laws in Pakistan’
Highly Commended
Michael McVeigh – Eureka Street
‘Advice to new Bombers fan bishop’
Best Column
Winner
Sister Patty Falkner – The Good Oil
Highly Commended
Catherine Day – Broken Bay News
Best Headline
Winner
Marist Messenger
‘A Very Modern Model of a Marist Seminarian!’
Highly Commended
Eureka Street
‘Dress sense or political statement? It’s a tie’
Best Mission Coverage
Winner
Anne Sutherland and Daniel Hopper - Journey
‘I was in prison and you visited me’
Highly Commended
Debra Vermeer - The Good Oil
‘70 years since six Good Samaritans set sail for Nagasaki’
Best Social Justice Coverage
Winner
Lisa Beech – The Nathaniel Report
‘Poverty and abortion’
Highly Commended
Debbie Cramsie, Marilyn Rodrigues and Catherine Sheehan – The Catholic Weekly
Series of articles on Homelessness
Best Education Coverage
Winner
Lindy McNamara – The Southern Cross
‘Celebrating “joyous” learning at Our Lady of La Vang’
Highly Commended
Chris Gordon - Catholic Voice
‘To Christchurch: From Cooma, with Love’
Best Article on Catechesis
Winner
Loretta Coman – Horizons
‘Ministry Spotlight: SPRED’
Peter Gilmore – Journey
‘An Unlikely Message – Virtue and the Jordan Peterson Phenomenon’
Best Devotional Article Applying Faith to Life
Winner
Anne Sutherland and Daniel Hopper - Journey
‘Alpha: A powerful message’
Highly Commended
Deacon Peter McCulloch – Broken Bay News
‘God is an equal partner in our marriage'
Best Feature Multiple Authors
Winner
Tui Motu
‘Dialogue and Collaboration’
Highly Commended #1
NZ Catholic
‘Christchurch mosque attacks’
Highly Commended #2
Australian Catholics
‘How do you pray?’
Best Original Photograph
Winner
Jonathan Pierce – Marist Messenger
Highly Commended
Atu Luvina – Fiji Catholic Times
Best Magazine Front Cover
Winner
Madonna
Winter 2018
Highly Commended
Melbourne Catholic
April edition
Best Newspaper Front Page
Winner
Good News
‘Good news from around the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton’
Highly Commended
The Catholic Leader
‘God is there for us’
Best Layout and Design – Online Publication
Winner
Eureka Street
Best Layout and Design – Magazine
Winner
Melbourne Catholic
Highly Commended
Aurora
Best Layout and Design – Newspaper
Winner
The Catholic Leader
Highly Commended
The Southern Cross
Most Improved Publication
Winner
Broken Bay News
Highly Commended
Horizons
Best use of Electronic Media
Winner
Melbourne Catholic
Podcast
Highly Commended
Emrys Jansen – The Nathaniel Report
Best Advertising Feature / Supplement
Winner
The Catholic Weekly
Sydney Catholic Schools Christmas Book
Highly Commended
Judith Gardner – Good News
The Morning Bulletin
Best Ecumenical / Interfaith Story
Winner
Zain Ali - Tui Motu
‘Jesus and Mary in the Qur'an’
Highly Commended
Ashleigh Green - The Good Oil
‘From strangers to cousins’
Best Online Publication
Winner
The Good Oil
Highly Commended
Eureka Street
Best Print Magazine
Winner
Marist Messenger
Highly Commended
The Majellan
Best Newspaper
Winner
The Southern Cross
Highly Commended
The Catholic Leader
Bishop Philip Kennedy Memorial Award for Overall Excellence in a Catholic Publication
Winner
The Good Oil