Medowie resident Jarrod Sansom has won a prestigious award for his commitment to rural and regional reporting.
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The University of Newcastle honours student was named the winner of Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Foundation’s JB Fairfax Award for Rural and Regional Journalism.
The award aims to foster the next generation of rural journalist by providing them with invaluable opportunities to grow their portfolio and tell stories from rural Australia.
“I’m humbled, proud and very excited for the opportunity,” Mr Sansom, 21, said.
Mr Sansom, who grew up in Williamtown, found his passion in telling the “big stories, the ones that really matter” in rural communities when the PFAS contamination came to light.
In 2018 he won ABC’s Heywire competition and was “given the chance to fight for positive change in the Williamtown community”.
“Once I arrived at the Heywire summit, I quickly realised that there is an endless amount of stories to be told,” he said. “I want to be someone that contributes to rural and regional Australia on a daily basis. This scholarship provides a pathway for me to achieve this.”
Mr Sansom will receive a $10,000 cash prize for career development and intern with the Sydney Royal Easter Show media team, rural newspaper The Land and ABC’s Landline program in Brisbane.
Cecilia Logan, RAS Foundation manager, said Mr Sansom demonstrated a keen passion for his community and represented the key values of the award.