The Coonabarabran Times has snagged the most wins of the night at the prestigious 2025 NSW Country Press Awards on 24 October.

The Warrumbungle publication's team took home four awards including Best Opinion/Editorial and Best Magazine or Special Publication for their luxe magazine 'Wattle', while photographer Jess Richards won Best Agricultural Photo and Overall Photographic Excellence at the dinner in the Victorian town of Yarrawonga.

Judge Andrew Manuel said editor Kait Britton's article 'I measure every Grief I meet' helped her community "process an unimaginable tragedy" following the deaths of two Coonabarabran boys at the hands of their grandmother in May.

"Her writing shows great sensitivity and connection, capturing both individual and collective grief. The piece is well structured, with strong storytelling," Mr Manuel said.

"This work demonstrates the important role of local journalism in supporting and reflecting the community during its most difficult moments."

Ms Britton joined the family-owned paper in 2010 as a journalist after completing an internship at The Land Newspaper.

The 30 October edition of The Coonabarabran Times could boast a win of their own. [IMAGE: River McCrossen]

She didn't set out to become editor, but took the reins from her father Max Estens at around 2020, who had been at the Times since he was 16.

Ms Britton said he taught her everything she knows about publishing, while her mother Lynn, who directed the paper with her husband, gifted her a way with words.

The awards were a "bitter-sweet" moment. Mr Estens passed just a few months ago. 

"It is reaffirming to know that we are on the right path, that we are writing and photographing and publishing the right things in the right way," said Kait.

:Just because we are a small, country newspaper doesn't mean the quality and professionalism isn't as high as our city cousins. It's just on a different scale.

"It can be a tricky juggling act working as a journalist in a small town that you have also grown up in – trust me, I know – which is why I am passionate about imparting my experience about what stories we tell, the way we tell them and how we go about securing them.

"Anyone who works or has worked in regional publishing understands how we operate off the smell of an oily rag – long hours, tight deadlines, limited resources, all compounded by logistics – but we manage to make it all come together each week. 

"It is an absolute privilege to be able to tell someone else's story – it is never a given. That's why we always strive for sensitivity and compassion."

Consistent performers, the Times were also runner-up in the Best News Coverage and Best News Photo categories in 2024, and in 2023 took Best Print Advertisement and Best Special Publication.

The awards for the NSW papers where held in Victoria as part of a joint conference with the Victorian Country Press Association.

Former Narromine Star editor Lucie Peart was also awarded life membership of the NSW Country Press Association. [IMAGE: supplied]

It was also a winning night for the Narromine Star, which printed its final edition in August but was still eligible for the awards for the 2024/25 financial year.

Former Star reporter Sophia McCaughan, who now works for the ABC in Port Macquarie, bagged Young Journalist of the Year. 

The Star also took out Overall Newspaper Excellence for paid papers with circulation under 700 copies, which they won last year.

"It's just a shame that we now can't go for the hattrick," owner Lucie Peart said.

"We just had staff who really understood the importance of a local newspaper and wanted to bring that back to the community of Narromine, which is now without a print edition newspaper for the second time in six years."

Asked what makes a good newspaper, Ms Peart said living locally and having a grip on what matters to communities.

"Then it's also celebrating all the great things - whether that's sport or just general or school news - that happens our small communities, and giving a voice to those people," she said.