Southern Cross has been recognised with four prizes in this year’s Australasian Religious Press Association ANSVAR Insurance Awards for Excellence, held at the weekend in Wellington, New Zealand.
Covering the output of religious publications and websites across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific during the 2011 calendar year, the awards were presented in 20 categories.
The most hotly contested was that of best feature by a single author, which was won by Southern Cross for its July 2011 cover story “Breaking the Spell”. Written by Scott Monk, the feature canvassed the influence of the Harry Potter series on Christians and whether or not the books contained links to the occult. Calling the cover “very accomplished” the judges praised its balance, contrasting views, “rich range of sources… and stylish writing”.
In the category recognising the best story on social justice issues, SC editor Judy Adamson won a silver award for her December 2011 cover story “Reform or BUST”, which dealt with problem gambling in Australia and the need for poker machine reform.
SC art director Stephen Mason won a bronze award in the category of best original artwork for his September 2011 illustration “Living between the cross and the resurrection”.
In the best headline category the newspaper won a silver award for “iPod, iPad… iDol”, which accompanied a piece by the Rev Justin Moffatt about the dangers of being ruled by technology.
