The 114th Annual Country Press Conference and awards night was held last Friday, and for a small tri-weekly paper we did very well.

Andrew Fisher and I took the long trip over the mountains to attend, and it was worth it, because our efforts to provide you with the best paper we can were recognised.

In fact two of the three publications we produce in our Darling Street office were found to be of great quality by the competition's expert judges.

The Cowra Guardian was awarded a highly commended for the EC Sommerlad Memorial Award for Editorial Writing. The judge commented that the editorials in the Cowra Guardian were a good example of how editorial writing need not be formal.

He earned his say in such matters after a lifetime in the industry. The judge began his lengthy career in South Africa before moving to Australia to work for the Sydney Morning Herald in 1979, and in 2008 he retired as the editor of the Northern Star in Lismore.

We were commended for a locally produced advertisement which was run for The Closet late last year.

The judge of this category was Ross McPherson, Executive Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the McPherson Media Group based in Shepparton. His family has published the Shepparton News since 1888 so effective newspaper advertising is in his blood.

He, Ross, has been judging the locally produced advertisement category for a number of years, and probably knows where it is at.

His comments were positive, saying it was a classic piece of offer-value advertising with a clear, simple message, perfect illustrations and excellent layout.

He also said it was extremely difficult to pick the winner because of the overall high quality of all the entries.

We also did well in Boorowa. For those of you who are thinking 'why is she talking about Boorowa?', well I am talking about that superb little town because the journos you see around Cowra are the same ones who produce the Boorowa News, along with the Canowindra News. We are a busy bunch.

Our 2013 Boorowa Woolfest feature was awarded a highly commended by judge, Laurie Barber. Laurie is an old hand at country newspapers, and has penned a few books including Please Print for Country Press.

Laurie said Boorowa should be proud to have such a high quality publication as the Boorowa News; saying the Woolfest feature highlighted what a country newspaper should be all about.

The Blayney Chronicle, now run by ex Cowra Guardian journalist, Bryant Hevesi, was awarded a certificate of merit in the EC Sommerlad Memorial Award for Journalism.

I think the positive reinforcement from the judges will help our newsroom continue to strive to produce the best possible newspaper for our town.

The AGM and awards night also gave us the opportunity to swap ideas with other country publications, meet the faces behind the pages of rural journalism and extend our congratulations to our colleagues.

Fairfax, which owns the Cowra Guardian did very well on the night, picking up a great variety of awards.

belinda.cleary@fairfaxmedia.com.au