Fassifern Guardian and Ipswich Tribune Journalist, Joe Hinchliffe, has joined some of the states best journalists in taking home a Clarion award.

Mr Hinchliffe won the award for Regional and Community Feature Article at the state media awards on Saturday night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

His story, “Death of a saleyard”, went up against strong competition from Shayla Bulloch from the Townsville Bulletin, with the story: “The boy that wanted to be loved” and the ABC’s Melissa Maykin for her story: “The devastating grief of stillbirth”.

Mr Hinchliffe covered every aspect of the Beaudesert Saleyards saga, breaking major developments along the way including a last-minute heritage listing.

The story began with community uproar over the planned demolition of a now heritage listed saleyards, to make way for a carpark.

What ensued was a back and forth between the Scenic Rim Regional Council and the community until a heritage listing bid was successful.

The listing would have been the end of the story except the Scenic Rim council then launched an appeal, a move the heritage authority had not seen in more than a decade of operation.

The latest update in the saga, which Mr Hinchliffe broke, was that talks had broken down between the council and the heritage council and the whole dispute was bound for court.

All these articles culminated with a feature, which Mr Hinchliffe wrote, showing the impact the loss of the saleyard would have on the people that loved them so dearly.

The judges comments, while not delving into why the story was chosen, spoke to the strength of the field.

“As always it is difficult judging the Regional section of the Clarions,” The judges wrote.

“Whether it is living the heartbreak of Melissa Maykins story about stillbirth, Joe Hinchcliffe’s a poignant tale about the death of the Beaudesert Sale yards, or the fascinating search for King Billy’s gravesite, the tragic other side of juvenile crime and how we are letting young kids down, these are important stories informing and capturing the lives of people in regional Australia.  

“It was difficult for the judges to narrow the submissions down to three worthy finalists and choose a winner, but it is heartening to see there are strong storytellers capturing the many voices in our regions.”

Mr Hinchliffe’s award highlights and recognises the important work he and his colleagues at the Fassifern Guardian and Ipswich Tribune do for the community.

Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance media section President, Peter McCutcheon, echoed this sentiment and the troubles journalists face when covering stories, such as Mr Hinchliffe’s, in his opening speech for the awards night.

“Many bureaucrats and government departments - federal and state are disengaging with journalists – viewing requests for information that should be in the public realm, with disdain and suspicion.... treating journalists like a necessary evil rather than an essential part of a functioning democracy,” Mr McCutcheon said.

“This year we’ve seen one Queensland government body – set up to investigate local council corruption –threaten a small regional newspaper – the Fassifern Guardian - with legal sanctions for simply doing its job.

“One of the protections your union has been lobbying for is shield laws for journalists”

Rory Callinan, who freelances for the Fassifern Guardian and Ipswich Tribune, also took home the top gong at the awards.

Mr Callinan, along with Mark Willacy took home the Investigative Jorunalism award for their work on “Who Dares Kills”, part of the long-running probe into alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.