Our popular podcast dedicated to telling the stories of real Australia is making its mark on the world.
Voice of Real Australia has been shortlisted for a prestigious international media award.
The International News Media Association's (INMA) 2021 Global Media Awards reward outstanding achievement in news brands, use of media platforms, and business development.
Voice of Real Australia, presented by Tom Melville and produced by Laura Corrigan, is a finalist in the Best Use of Audio category.
"It's so exciting to be a finalist for this award," host Tom Melville said. "We aim to share the stories of regional communities with the world.
"We realised regional Australians were under-represented in mainstream podcasts and we wanted to change that. This recognition proves there's value in that."
Voice of Real Australia is a colourful documentary-style podcast that showcases character-driven stories from rural and regional Australia. It amplifies voices in the bush, bringing you people, places and perspectives from beyond the big cities.
Where else would you learn about Australia's forgotten fossils, what's killing our iconic snow gums, why Tassie devils have been released on the mainland, the struggle of farmers under ACT's lease laws, how an alternative community is faring after a fatal fire wreaked havoc, why Dubbo needs a drug court, or why Indigenous athletes are underrepresented in our national sport? These are just some of the dinner-table conversation starting stories we tell.
Voice of Real Australia will line up against News Corp Australia's On Guard: Stories from Inside Australia's Toughest Prisons, National Media Group's (Kenya) Nation Audio, HT Media (India) HT Smartcast and NZME (New Zealand) HP Business Class.
The award winners will be announced in a virtual event on June 3.
You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen. Just search Voice of Real Australia. You can also listen on our web player above.
Voice of Real Australia is produced by ACM, the publisher of this newspaper.
Laura Carolina Corrigan
Canberra Times producer with a background in news and podcasts.
Canberra Times producer with a background in news and podcasts.
