Regional Australia's most outstanding journalism has been celebrated at the 2025 ACM Excellence Awards, with The Canberra Times named masthead of the year, Queensland Country Life winning best agricultural publication in its 90th year and the Goulburn Post winning best community title.
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The annual awards recognise the best news and sport coverage, commentary and commercial content produced by the websites and newspapers of the ACM network, Australia's largest independent publisher of regional news.
Journalist Tim Piccione of The Canberra Times was presented with the top individual honour, the Gold ACME for Journalist of the Year, for his body of work over 2025, including an investigation into policing in the ACT.
Crime reporter Anna Falkenmire of the Newcastle Herald was named Young Journalist of the Year and Emily Clooney of The Advocate in north-west Tasmania was named Sports Journalist of the Year.
ACM editorial director Rod Quinn congratulated this year's winners.
"In these days of robots and fakery, our journalists put themselves in places where our readers cannot go," he said.
"They bear witness to the triumphs and the tragedies, the happiness and the heartbreak, and they convey those moments to our audiences. Our communities are better for it.
"What our journalists do is not optional in a democracy. And it is more important now than ever."
Presented in Sydney on Tuesday, December 9, the awards are now in their fifth year.
ACM board member and Thorney Investment Group chief operating officer Peter Landos, representing company owners Alex Waislitz and Antony Catalano, presented the night's major prizes.
The judges said Mr Piccione's "quiet persistence" had helped The Canberra Times set the daily news agenda in the national capital.
Ms Falkenmire's crime coverage for the Newcastle Herald was praised for "compassionate, human-centred storytelling giving a voice to victims of crime".
Managing editor John-Paul Moloney accepted the Regional Masthead of the Year trophy on behalf of the The Canberra Times, which also won Campaign of the Year for its exclusive series on Transurban's Sydney toll errors stinging unsuspecting ACT drivers.
Queensland Country Life, one of ACM's specialist weekly titles serving Australia's important rural and farm sector, was named Best Agricultural Masthead of 2025.
Celebrating its 90th year of publishing this year, Queensland Country Life was represented at the awards by former editor Lucy Kinbacher and acting editor Sally Gall.
Editor Sally Foy, who oversees the Goulburn Post on the NSW Southern Tablelands, accepted the award for Best Community Masthead, and also won Commentary of the Year for her own writing.
Dane Wilson, of Dubbo's Daily Liberal, was named Trainee of the Year and Kim Chappell, who guides online publishing of local news coverage as regional digital editor, was named Coach/Mentor of the Year.
The Border Mail, which covers the Albury/Wodonga region on the NSW-Victorian border, was recognised for its rolling coverage of a hospital rally led by local mayors and health advocates that travelled by train to state parliament in Melbourne.
The newsrooms of The Advocate in north-west Tasmania and The Standard in Warrnambool, were also recognised for their efforts this year to serve their communities and grow digital subscriptions.
Journalists Ben Silvester and Anna Houlahan were praised for their outstanding travel writing and video coverage for the ACM network's popular Explore website and Saturday print magazine.
Full list of 2025 ACM Excellence Awards winners
Gold ACME Journalist of the Year
Winner: Tim Piccione, The Canberra Times
Young Journalist of the Year
Masthead of the Year - Regional
Winner: The Canberra Times
Masthead of the Year - Agricultural
Winner: Queensland Country Life
Masthead of the Year - Community
Winner: Goulburn Post
Editorial Director's Award
Winner: The Advocate
Sports Journalist of the Year
Winner: Emily Clooney, The Advocate
Trainee of the Year
Winner: Dane Wilson, Daily Liberal
Mentor of the Year
Winner: Kim Chappell, Regional Digital Editor
Building A Subscriber Community
Winner: The Standard
Team Collaboration
Winner: The Border Mail Hospital Rally Goes to Parliament
Best Video
Winner: Anna Houlahan, Explore
Highly commended: Sophia Baker, The Standard
Campaign of the Year
Winner: The Canberra Times Transurban Toll Errors Revealed
Commentary of the Year
Highly commended: Alise McIntosh, Western Advocate
Explore Travel Story of the Year
Winner: Ben Silvester
Highly commended: Anna Houlahan
Feature Story of the Year
Winner: Beau Greenway, The Border Mail
Highly commended: Sage Swinton, Newcastle Herald
Court Story of the Year
Winner: Breanna Chillingworth, The Northern Daily Leader
Highly commended: The Advocate
News Story of the Year - Regional
Winner: Gabriel Fowler, Newcastle Herald
Highly commended: Ciara Bastow, Daily Liberal
Sport Story of the Year
Highly commended: Samantha Townsend, The Land
Story of the Year - Community
Winner: James Parker, Bega District News
Highly commended: Tim Grey, Bay Post
Story of the Year - Agricultural
Winner: Andrew Marshall, farmonline.com.au
Property Story of the Year
Winner: Gwen Liu, The Courier
Highly commended: Jade Lazarevic, Newcastle Herald
Production/presentation of the Year
Winner: Jamie Horne
Highly commended: Josh Hall
Digital Execution of the Year
Winner: Ayden Dawkins
News Photo of the Year - Regional
Winner: Peter Lorimer, Newcastle Herald
Sport Photo of the Year - Regional
Winner: Anna Warr, Illawarra Mercury
Photo of the Year - Agricultural
Winner: Simon Chamberlain, The Land
Photo of the Year - Community
Winner: Ben Smyth, Bega District News
Magazine of the Year
Winner: Spring Angus 2025, ACM Agri
Highly commended: Maitland Flood 70th Anniversary, The Maitland Mercury
Commercial Feature of the Year
Regionals & Communities winner: Big Steps, Little Feet, The Courier
Agricultural winner: FarmFest 50 Years Official Guide
Paid Content Campaign
Winner: "Save Your Skin" for the Cancer Council
Highly commended: Tractor Games, The Land
James Joyce
James Joyce is executive editor of ACM, the publisher of this masthead. Based in Canberra, he is a former editor of ACM's The Canberra Times and began his journalism career as a cadet reporter for his hometown paper, ACM's Newcastle Herald, where he spent two decades moonlighting as the masthead’s movie and TV critic while working his way up to the position of deputy editor.
