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THE Dandenong Journal was lauded at the annual Community Newspapers of Australia awards on Friday night.
The Journal picked up four awards in the southern division for best editorial, best special publication and two top photographic awards.
Stewart Chambers won best feature photograph for a picture taken at the Illuminated Voices exhibition at Heritage Hill. Judges said the photograph “uplifts humanity in a way that makes us think”.
Rob Carew’s photograph of a blind serviceman placing a poppy at a cenotaph on Remembrance Day watched devotedly by his guide dog won best news photograph.
The Journal’s Premier Regional Business Awards feature, put together by business writer Casey Neill, won best special publication. Judges said the paper took a “deep dive to really try and understand what makes the best businesses in the region tick”.
Finally, the Journal’s open letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking for more assistance for refugees and asylum seekers, which launched last year’s Give Us A Hand campaign, also drew praise from judges as “a stand out and brilliantly displayed on the front page”.
Editor Narelle Coulter said the awards reinforced the Journal’s reputation as one of the country’s best community newspapers.