We deeply mourn the loss of our co-patron Caroline Jones, but we are honoured to continue one of her proudest legacies – the award which bears her name and which seeks to elevate the importance of reportage by female journalists working across our regions.

For the sixth year, Women in Media Australia, in partnership with the National Press Club of Australia, is calling for entries for the country’s pre-eminent award for up-and-coming regional reporters.

The Caroline Jones Women in Media Young Journalist’s Award recognises tenacity and passion for the craft of journalism from young women working across rural and regional Australia.

It seeks to immerse the award winner in an intensive experience of journalism, politics and government in Canberra and to open doors to the experience and generosity of some of the country’s top female journalists.

THE AWARD INCLUDES:

• A $2500 personal learning fund
• Travel to Canberra with five nights’ accommodation
• Attend a National Press Club lunch and ask a question
• Mentorship from the members of the Women in Media Canberra committee
• The winner will spend time in a variety of Canberra and Press Gallery newsrooms during the week

This award seeks to foster commitment and passion for journalism among young women practitioners in rural and regional Australia.

It is named in honour of Caroline Jones AO, a ground-breaking journalist who joined the ABC in 1963 and became the first female reporter for This Day Tonight. She reported for Four Corners between 1972-1981 before presenting Radio National’s Search for Meaning program. In 1996, Jones became the presenter of Australian Story.

Caroline was the national co-patron of Women in Media, a mentoring, networking, and professional development initiative for Australian women in media modelled on a successful group first established in Western Australia in 2005.

The award is the first of its kind in encouraging young female rural and regional journalists to experience first-hand the complexities of the media and political landscape across the nation’s capital.

It is a life-changing, horizon-broadening and immersive prize, exposing the winner to the institutions of Canberra, including the Press Gallery and National Press Club.

It also brings them into contact with the Women in Media network – providing mentorship, guidance, and insights from Canberra’s most prominent female journalists.

“This award is offered as a tribute to the women who, sometimes far from colleagues or mentors, choose to cover regional or remote areas of our country, reporting on local issues which are often of vital national interest,” Jones said.

“Maybe it’s because I come from the bush; or because my grandfather Ashley Pountney was editor of the first newspapers in north-west NSW, this award is close to my heart.”