Monday, December 05, 2022

History made at the 2022 RMC SA/NT Awards

The ABC’s Bec Whetham became the first person to win both Rural Journalist of the Year and Rural Photographer of the Year award – it’s also the first time a professional photographer has not won the award.

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RMC SA/NT Award Winners Announced

2022 Rural Media & Communicators SA/NT Award Winners Announced

History has been made at the 2022 Rural Media & Communicators (RMC) South Australia and Northern Territory Awards, with ABC South East Features Reporter Bec Whetham taking home both the Rural Journalist of the Year and Rural Photographer of the Year – the first time an individual has done so since the awards began 26 years ago.

Bec’s entries in the journalism categories saw her take home the Best Rural Broadcast Journalist – Video/Television award and feature strongly among the judges’ considerations for the Best Rural Broadcast Journalist – Audio and Best Rural Journalist – Digital/Online awards.

In the photography category, Bec won the Best Rural Photographer – People and was also highly commended in the Best Rural/Regional Photojournalist and Best Rural Photographer – Nature/Landscape/Rural Scenes categories.

RMC SA/NT President Leigh Radford OAM said it was an amazing feat by Bec to take home both major awards, sponsored by Rural Business Support, this year.

“What Bec has achieved at the 2022 awards is nothing short of incredible and shows the array of skills and talents that rural journalists across SA and the NT possess,” he said.

“Bec’s flair for seeking out and telling fascinating human interest stories about some unique rural characters, as well as her hard news reporting, across a range of categories made it hard to go past her for the Rural Journalist of the Year.

“However, to also submit some stunning imagery of people and rural landscapes taken on both Terra Firma and in the air by drone – all with a lot of thought and care with her set-up – and be awarded the Rural Photographer of the Year is a real credit to Bec and her extraordinary talents.”

A year after getting her ‘break’ in the ABC Adelaide newsroom as a final year journalism student in 2018, Bec then went to Mount Gambier where she has been Features Reporter for ABC South East since mid-2020. She became a journalist because of her love of chatting to people and says that even in a world of isolation, turmoil and distrust, people continue to do amazing things.

Entries in both the journalism and photography awards were up on previous years, with the overall quality very strong – a reflection on the calibre of rural journalists across SA and the NT.

The winners of the main categories are eligible to go on to the national Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists Star Awards, and if successful, to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Awards at the next IFAJ Conference, where the RMC winners have regularly excelled in the past.

After a two-year hiatus, the awards for Best Royal Adelaide Show Story and Best Royal Adelaide Show Photo, sponsored by the Show Society Foundation were back on, with Stock Journal’s Katie Jackson winning the story award for her piece about the Country Women’s Association repurposing unused show ribbons. The photo award was won by Scott Murphy form the Mount Barker Courier for his shot of dairy cattle breeders Eden and Taitlyn Rothe.

“It was a delight to see the Royal Adelaide Show return this year after the challenges of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021,” Mr Radford said.

“The return of the Show gave rural journalists and photographers the opportunity to capture and tell some of the great stories of the Show which we know has been so desperately missed by residents across metropolitan and rural SA.”

Recognising the changing landscape of rural media, awards were also presented for Rural Communicator of the Year and Rural Social Influencer of the Year Award, sponsored by PodTalk and AgCommunicators, respectively.

Best Rural Communicator went to the Department of Primary Industries and Regions for the Red Meat and Wool Growth Program, while the Social Influencer Award went to Sue Heward of Singing Magpie Produce, Monash.

“It is important we recognise people outside of the traditional journalism and photography industries for the important work they do in communicating to rural and regional SA/NT and how individuals can tell the story of rural life over social media,” Mr Radford said.

“This is the second year of these innovative awards, and we look forward to seeing them continue to grow in popularity in years to come.”

The major sponsor of the 2022 RMC SA/NT Awards was Rural Business Support. Other sponsors included AgCommunicators, Fuller, the Show Society Foundation, SA Horticultural Services, the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Arran Consulting, Peats Soil & Garden Supplies, DMS Media Services and PodTalk.

2022 Rural Media & Communicators SA/NT Awards Results

JOURNALISM

2022 Rural Journalist of the Year

Sponsored by AgCommunicators

Winner: Bryan Littlely, Fleurieu Sun

Highly commended: Elsie Adamo, The Border Watch/South Eastern Times

2022 Best Rural Broadcast Journalist – Audio / Radio

Sponsored by AgCommunicators

Winner: Bec Whetham, ABC

Highly commended: Casey Treloar, 7NEWS

2022 Best Rural Broadcast Journalist – Digital / Online

Sponsored by AgCommunicators

Winner: Matt Brann, ABC

2022 Best Royal Show Story

Sponsored by AgCommunicators

Winner: Sue Heward, Singing Magpie Produce

2022 Best Rural Communications Award – Government or Private