Crop Life Best News Story Award ($2,000)

Eligibility: Rural newsrooms are under extraordinary pressure to cover large areas and complex topics with dwindling resources. The CropLife Best News Story award recognises excellent news breaking by a rural journalist under pressure from deadlines. Entries must relate to rural and regional Federal policy issues, with stories published or broadcast between October 31, 2024 and October 31, 2025. Entry is open to all paid up members of the National Rural Press Club. 

Judging criteria: The award recognises outstanding work on a developing news story which reveals significant new information about an issue affecting rural and regional Australia. Stories will be judged according to their newsworthiness, accuracy, clarity, originality and depth. Judges will also take into account the resources available to the journalist and whether they are regionally based. 

Process: Applicants must submit a 200 word supporting summary describing: 

• how the story came about,
• resources available to the journalist,
• where they were based,
• where it was published/broadcast,
• its impact and feedback generated.

Submissions can be a single report or up to three reports on the same issue per entry. Reports can be submitted in PDF files, accessible weblinks, audio or video links. Please note: weblinks will only be accepted if they are freely accessible without registration or paywalls. If the work you are entering is behind a paywall, it is strongly advised that you also upload an accessible copy with your entry, such as a PDF file. Your entry may be disqualified if the judges cannot access your work.