Times News Group’s NSW titles and journalists won four awards and received two highly commended places at the 2026 Country Press NSW Awards of Excellence.

Tweed Coast Times was named Newspaper of the Year and its journalist Pancho Symes won Emerging Journalist of the Year.

Former Gunnedah Times photographer Kylie Devine won Best News Photo, while Wee Waa News won Best Front Page in the paid newspapers under 700 copies category. Gunnedah Times and Byron Coast Times also received highly commended awards.

The awards were announced at a gala dinner in Orange on Friday, 23 October, with 238 entries across 20 categories.

Times News Group managing director Warick Brown said the results reflected the work of the NSW team.

“This is a terrific result for our NSW team and a strong endorsement of the local journalism our titles are producing across the state,” he said.

“To have Tweed Coast Times follow Byron Coast Times as Newspaper of the Year shows how quickly our NSW business has grown and the strength of the teams behind these papers.”

The group now publishes 17 regional mastheads.

Wee Waa News’ winning front page covered a public meeting protesting a health service review. Judges praised its choice of speakers and the photographs showing the meeting and its attendees.

Kylie won Best News Photo for Rain or Shine, AgQuip Opens. Gunnedah Times was also highly commended for its front page in the paid newspapers over 700 copies category. The page featured a family sharing their heartbreak over their young daughter’s cancer.

Judges described Tweed Coast Times as “bright and informative”, praising its journalism, headlines, layouts and photography. They said the paper fulfilled its community role and that its advertising support reflected “community engagement and trust”.

Byron Coast Times was highly commended for its Women in Business feature in the Best Advertising Feature or Campaign category.

Judges described Pancho Symes as “an entertaining young journalist who has nailed ‘the intro'” and called his submission “outstanding”, praising his use of language and ability to keep readers engaged.

“I’m proud to be recognised alongside the journalists and community newspapers doing such important work across regional NSW,” Pancho said.

“I’ve learned a lot from the Tweed team, and this award is a credit to the people who have backed me and helped me grow as a journalist.”

Country Press NSW said participation in the awards had increased for the fifth consecutive year.

NSW editor Angus Smith, who attended the awards, said Country Press NSW deserved recognition for supporting regional publishers.

“I thought it was great to see the breadth of regional publishing represented at the awards,” he said.

“Country Press NSW does an important job of bringing publishers together and recognising the work they do in their communities.”

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