Two gold awards for Insights at ARPA Convention 2011

The Uniting Creative team received two Gold Awards — one for best ecumenical story and one for best headline — in the recent 2011 Australasian Religious Press Association Awards (ARPA).

It also received a Silver Award for best original photograph and a Highly Commended in the best feature by multiple authors.

The Gold Award for best feature was for “Ecumenism means you, too” by Emma Halgren, which appeared in the August 2010 issue of Insights.

Judges said the feature was a well written and constructed major feature article — including individual stories and informed and focused comment by ecumenical leaders on a global, national, and regional level.

The Gold Award for best headline was for “Hey Moses, you call that a tablet!” by Stephen Webb, which appeared in the October 2010 issue of Insights. The headline referred to a story about the Moderator’s i-Pad in the “What hath God wrought?” technology feature. The judges said it showed “nice juxtaposition — especially in a church paper”.

The Silver Award for best photograph by Lyndal Irons appeared as part of the “Ecumenism means you, too” feature. Judges said the photo’s harmonious visual relationship between the three subjects “draws the eye and continues to engage the viewer. A very fine alternative to the ‘three people against a wall’ style of shot that pervades religious publications.”

The Highly Commended feature (by multiple authors) was for “What hath God wrought?” — which judges said explored the excitement, demands and dangers new technologies in an attractive and challenging manner. “It is a salutary reminder of the possibilities and perils contained in Marshal McLuhan’s observation, ‘The medium is the message’.”

The Uniting Creative team was presented with its awards at a dinner in Adelaide on September 10.

Uniting Creative provides custom publishing and specialist media consultancy services to churches, not-for-profit organisations and other businesses.

As the communications unit of the Uniting Church Synod of New South Wales and the ACT, Uniting Creative publishes the monthly magazine Insights. See Insights’ online  and Uniting Creative.

You can also follow, like or re-tweet Insights on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to Insights’ RSS feed.

ARPA is an ecumenical organisation whose members represent Christian publications and media agencies in both Australia and New Zealand.

Other Uniting Church publications were also rewarded for their excellence in the professional field of religious media.