WA Business News has won another major award against international competition, taking gold for the design of a special section that focused on ideas for the development of Western Australia.
Entitled 34 Ideas for WA, the feature topped the Best Special Section Design category against a strong pool of competitors from regionally focused business publications, with rivals from Detroit and New York, in the US, taking the silver and bronze positions.
The awards, announced in Denver in the US last weekend, are held annually by the Alliance of Area Business Publications, which represents more than 70 publications, with the judging managed by the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.
The judges said the style of the publication, which mixed strong words lifted by striking design, was something that might activate readers.
“Authoritative writing, solid use of photography and a generous use of white space make this special section a fast but pleasant read while giving its readers plenty of food for thought,” the judges said.
“This is the kind of journalism that readers can take to community gatherings to spark discussion of change and growth.
“The writing is authoritative and, at times, humorous. The use of dominant photos and subheads keeps the reader on the right track from cover to cover.”
The eight-page feature was published at Easter time last year.
It listed 34 ideas WA Business News felt had some merit, be they serious or frivolous. Most were in the former category, and included foreshore development, cutting payroll tax, a focus on solar energy, marketing WA properly and the improvement in the plight of indigenous people.
Some were less important – such as the idea of reintroducing kangaroos to Kings Park or carving the faces of our leading medical researchers (Professor Fiona Stanley, Dr Fiona Woods, Professor Barry Marshall and Dr Robin Warren) into a Mt Rushmore-like hillside sculpture.
Backed up by big pictures that conjured up strong images of what was sought, most of the ideas in the feature had been highlighted by the newspaper previously.
