Ballarat Courier - Rural Press Club of Victoria

leading the community
“
I’m not sure if you
remember me. I
was “Jane” that
you did a story on
for the It’s Up to Us
campaign in which
I am so incredibly
grateful you did.
How wonderful
your article made
front page in
The Courier and
congratulations
on your award
you so deeply
deserve. You will
never know the
amazing impact in
which you helped
me on my road to
rebuilding myself
and my life again.
For that alone I
thank you so very,
very much.
– Victim, Jane.
It’s Up To Us I
T was up to us. There were two
overriding factors which prompted
The Courier to take a leading role in
tackling the issue of family violence in the
Ballarat community.
Firstly, Ballarat was identified two years
in succession as having one of the worst
records of family violence in Victoria.
Secondly, the horrendous death of a single
mother in a central Ballarat house at the
hands of a convicted sex offender.
In June 2013, The Courier launched the
It’s Up to Us campaign designed to create
awareness and educate the community
about family violence and to sign a
pledge, in partnership with White Ribbon
Australia, against violence.
It began with an interview senior
reporter Kim Quinlan conducted with
Ballarat’s Citizen of the Year, Tony Lovett.
Mr Lovett is a confessed abuser of
women.
The impact of this story and subsequent
articles during the campaign - focussed
on victims, the judicial system and the
cultural challenges our society faces in
regard to gender - has been immense.
A series of lead stories in print were
balanced by a unique online portal
containing video, analysis and statistics
to provide a space for community
engagement. It also allowed readers to
sign the pledge against violence.
Less than six months after the launch
of the It’s Up to Us portal, hundreds of
readers had signed the pledge, with White
Ribbon Australia experiencing a 16 per
cent increase from local postcodes.
Remarkably, instances of family
violence have reduced in two consecutive
Ballarat police district reporting periods.
On White Ribbon Day, The Courier
published a special edition recognised
the broader community’s commitment to
www.
Part 1
the It’s Up To Us campaign, signified by a
white ribbon running through pages of the
edition - the first time the newspaper had
undertaken such an unique approach to a
campaign message.
However, the campaign was also
marked by the death of Ballarat mother
Sharon Siermans, at the hands of a
brutal parolee, Jason Dinsley, in a central
Ballarat house.
The death in many ways help define the
resolve of the community to take a stand.
Again, The Courier led the way,
breaking the news that Dinsley’s parolee
had been revoked two days before he
killed Ms Siermans.
After Dinsley was sentenced, The
Courier published an exclusive print
and video interviews with the parents of
Ms Siermans, underlying the trust the
community placed in only our reporters
to tell an extremely horrific and sensitive
story. LINK: http://www.thecourier.com.
au/story/1986711/sharon-siermanslegacy-parents-call-for-tougherlaws/?cs=3223
This case is among those which have
resulted in serious changes to legislation
regarding parolees in Victoria.
Not only did The Courier take a leading
role through canvassing the issues in print
and online, we took action.
The Courier signed up to a pilot project
– Act@Work – managed by social service
organisation Grampians Womens Health,
which educated staff members about
family violence and what they could do to
deal with issues in the workplace, at home
or in the community through sessions held
in The Courier office.
STORIES, VIDEO: http://www.thecourier.
com.au/its-up-to-us/
TWITTER: @itsuptous2013
.com.au
leading the community
“
It’s Up To Us Part 2
“
The support that The Courier (and its
reporters) have given to the issue of
prevention of violence against women is
absolutely unprecedented and extraordinary.
I’ve never seen anything like it.
– Sonia Smith, Ballarat lawyer
“
What The Courier has done
– in a way that no other
organisation or individual
could, is bring to life and
begin to normalise the
understanding that the more
sexism and gender inequality
that exists in society, the
higher the levels of violence
against women we have.
The Courier’s participation in
and commitment to the
WHG Act@Work project is a
true act of leadership…
of walking the talk!
– Patty Kinnersly,
chief executive officer,
Grampians Womens Health
I want to spend
a moment
acknowledging
the role that the
local paper has
had in the Sharon
Siermans case.
I also acknowledge
The Courier
for launching
the It’s Up to
Us campaign,
highlighting the
prevalence of
violence against
women and
challenging our
community to
become aware of
its actions and
behaviour with
regard to the
position of women
in our community.
– Ballarat MP
Sharon Knight
addressing State
Parliament,
August 21, 2013
www.
.com.au
Breaking news
Fun House on Fire
T
he Plaster Fun House story was the most read
multi-platform story for the year.
Users were drawn to thecourier.com.
au as smoke filled central Ballarat on a warm
February evening, with the website recording 1500
pageviews each minute (site average around 120)
at 9pm. The following day’s newspaper is the
biggest selling Friday edition of the year thus far,
exceeding the previous Friday by almost
900 copies.
5000
2500
4am
8am
12pm
4pm
8pm
“
1st version - 6pm.
The first version of the story featured the most
basic information which came to hand, less
than 30 minutes since the fire began. With no
photographer immediately available, a reporter
went and took a photo on their phone, which
accompanied the first version of the story.
2nd version - 6.45pm.
A photo gallery of reader photos were sourced
from Facebook and Twitter, as a large crowd
gathered around the scene where firefighters
were working. These photos were not of great
quality, but served to give readers their “first
look” at the fire scene.
3rd version - 7.30pm.
Another Courier reporter, on their way
home, managed to film about 10 seconds of
footage from the early part of the fire. It took
to 7.30pm before the video was able to be
uploaded to the now-constantly evolving story
page.
4th version and rolling updates - 8pm
onwards.
The Courier’s photographer managed to file
pictures from the scene slowly throughout the
night, making the photo gallery change from
grainy reader photos to high quality dramatic
shots of the firefight in action. Traffic spiked
once these photos were published. More
and more photos were published until about
9.30pm.
SOCIAL MEDIA
@ballaratcourier
Using the power of The Courier’s
11,000-strong Facebook community,
news, images and video from the
scene spread across social media,
reaching tens of thousands of readers.
Post one
“
Seventy-five
per cent of all
Facebooksourced
visitors to
the site on
February 6
“landed” on
Plaster Fun
House-related
stories.
HOW WE BROKE THE NEWS
http://www.thecourier.com.au/
story/2071960/ballarat-plaster-fun-houseburns-down/
It’s one thing to publish updated content, it’s
another to let people know that it’s there.
Seventy-five per cent of all Facebooksourced visitors to the site on February 6
“landed” on Plaster Fun House-related stories.
The Courier posted five times about the fire
during the night - all with links back to our
Post two
Post three
Post four
story - and all reaching thousands of people.
There were also numerous Twitter postings
throughout the night, but these gathered
much smaller audiences than the Facebook
posts.
THE FACEBOOK POSTS
https://www.facebook.com/ballaratcourier
Using the power of The Courier’s
11,000-strong Facebook community, news,
images and video from the scene spread
across social media, reaching tens of
thousands of readers.
Post one: The first post reflected the
immediacy of the situation and displays a
photo taken early by a reporter. It reached
22,680 people and had 159 shares, 59
comments and 65 likes.
Post two: The second post featured a story
update and the addition of video footage.
It reached 9,432 people with 30 shares, 10
comments and 32 likes.
Post three: The third post linked to the
updated story and the now-growing reader
photo gallery. This highlighted to readers that
their photos were not being wasted and they
could also see what shots other people took.
It reached 8,332 people with 16 shares, 18
comments and 35 likes.
Post four: The fourth post displays the first of
The Courier’s photographer’s photos, drawing
readers to the same story which, by this
stage, was a mix between the photographer’s
photos and reader photos.
It reached 15,256 people, had 66 shares,
22 comments and 93 likes.
Post five: The final post was a little later but
proved that the audience’s appetite for the
story hadn’t waned. It featured a full photo
gallery from The Courier’s photographer and
pushed forward the message that there were
more photos of the scene available that they
might not have seen in earlier postings.
It reached 20,528 people with 110 shares,
51 comments and 157 likes.
Post five
www.
.com.au
Breaking news
Another brick in the hall
B
“
The live blog recorded more than 4000
pageviews and 3000 unique browsers
on the night of the meeting - the most
successful in our website’s history.
allarat’s Civic Hall was constructed
as a community facility in the mid1950s.
For more than decade the facility has
been unused. Boarded up to restrict entry to
this major CBD site, proposals to redevelop
the site - including reuse or demolition
of the existing hall have been ravaged by
controversy.
Multiple plans have come and gone
during the past decade, including a doomed
proposal from Ballarat City Council to
construct a $40 million municipal facility on
the site in 2010 which has voted down after
concerted protests from Ballarat ratepayers.
In September 2013, the council
considered a new resolution to demolish
the hall.
Hundreds of Ballarat residents converged
on Ballarat Town Hall on Wednesday,
September 25, to consider the new
resolution.
Before the meeting, those against
demolition sang songs of protest. Late,
inside the meeting, more than 50 residents
addressed the council meeting expressing
their views for, and the majority against,
demolition. The meeting went for almost
seven hours, ending at 2am on Thursday
morning, with the council voting six to three
in favour of demolition.
The Courier covered the meeting online
with a rolling blog which included updates
from two reporters - Rachel Afflick and Tom
Cowie - and photographer Adam Trafford
from the Town Hall.
These staff filed regular updates using
mobile technology filed through to News
Director Andrew Ramadge who managed
the blog in The Courier office.
Reporters also provided updates
through Twitter and Facebook - providing
multi-platform access to updates for our
reporters.
www.
Content also included video of the
protester’s songs, video interview and
images which were delivered via the
online blog.
The News Director cultivated this content
as it happened, also including reader
comments and social media interaction
from residents inside the meeting.
The blog provided interaction and
informative coverage for residents unable to
attend the meeting and ensured our readers
gained a sense of the emotional nature of
the meeting.
Our reporters and photographers stayed
until the conclusion of the meeting, the blog
wrapping up right at 2am.
Stories and photographs were then
compiled for the print edition, providing the
added detail and depth for readers. Despite
well exceeding our nightly print deadline,
we worked with our print site to ensure the
print edition hit newsagents in a time frame
as to not impact sales.
A controversial and noteworthy front
page, depicting the mayor on a wrecking
ball on the Civic Hall site had been
produced in advance in anticipation of
the decision, ensuring the coverage had
maximum impact.
The Thursday print edition was one of the
best sellers of the year.
Controversy continued to dog the council
following the Civic Hall decision with
allegations Mayor John Burt and Liberal
Premier Denis Napthine were involved in
influencing the outcome of the Ballarat
mayoral election. Cr Burt resigned in May,
confirming he was behind meetings to fix
the mayoral appointment of fellow Liberal
Party member Joshua Morris.
LINK: http://www.thecourier.com.au/
story/1801473/as-it-happened-ballaratcity-council-decides-fate-of-civic-hall/
.com.au
ISSUES IN DEPTH
Ice
“
I’m not sure if you
remember me. I
was “Jane” that
you did a story on
for the It’s Up to Us
campaign in which
I am so incredibly
grateful you did.
How wonderful
your article made
front page in
The Courier and
congratulations
on your award
you so deeply
deserve. You will
never know the
amazing impact in
which you helped
me on my road to
rebuilding myself
and my life again.
For that alone I
thank you so very,
very much.
– Victim, Jane.
“
L
IKE heroin, only cheaper.
Methamphetamine, or ice as
it is known on the streets,
has taken hold in regional Victorian
cities such as Ballarat.
Drug-related offences in the
April quarter, according to official
police statistics, is up 82 per cent
- http://www.thecourier.com.
au/story/2313915/rising-crimestats-highlight-ballarats-icescourge/
The Courier has been at the
forefront of identifying this scourge
on the local community but also
educating the community on its
impact.
In a special report on November
16, The Courier went inside the
lives of those impacted by ice,
exploring the impact the drug had
on the individuals, family members
and the Ballarat community. It was
an unique exploration which added
depth of understanding to an
otherwise black and white issue.
The report added to a
groundswell of public comment,
amid a State Government
establishing an inquiry – headed
by Ballarat-based MP Simon
Ramsay - into the prevalence and
influence the drug is having on our
communities.
The committee is due to report
to parliament later this year.
The report added to a groundswell of
public comment, amid a State Government
establishing an inquiry – headed by Ballaratbased MP Simon Ramsay - into the
prevalence and influence the drug is having
on our communities.
“
There is no
fear, it’s crept
into football
clubs,
nightclubs and
it’s not just
underground,
which was
what we first
thought.
– Mental health
worker
Peter Treloar.
www.
.com.au