Archdiocese of Perth eRecord journalist Marco Ceccarelli was one of two Ramon Williams Scholarship winners who last week took centre stage at the 2015 Australian Religious Press Association (ARPA) conference.
Mr Ceccarelli, together with The Catholic Leader journalist Emilie Ng, were awarded the Ramon Williams Scholarship in honour of renowned Australian Christian journalist and photographer, Ramon Williams.
Themed Freedom of the Religious Press, the 41st ARPA conference was held in Brisbane’s Jen Hotel from 28 to 30 August and attended by more than 45 delegates involved in religious publications from across Australia and New Zealand.
The two recipients, Marco Ceccarelli and Emilie Ng, spoke of the scholarship that sponsored their presence at the ARPA conference as a source of great encouragement for young journalists in their developing ministry.
“It is a privilege for me to attend a conference that brings together Australia’s leading Christian voices in publishing and media,” said Mr Ceccarelli, who has an academic background and has been working as a journalist for the eRecord since 2014.
“I would like to see the national Australian religious press play a role of greater gravitas on the international Christian and religious stage, and believe that, in a world dominated by secular news, there is a need for the Christian media to provide a much-needed counterbalance. This conference has reinforced my views,” he added.
Ms Ng was equally as grateful for her scholarship award and was called back onto the podium later in the evening as recipient of the Gold Award for Best News Story.
Her October 2014 article, Loads of Help, on Brisbane laundry services for homeless people, was looked favourably upon by the judges who deemed it fit for the top award in that category.
This year, the program of the conference included an opening talk and workshop on freedom, religion and the press by Journalism Program Director at The University of Queensland (UQ), Dr John Harrison.
Other keynote speakers included UQ Professor Nicholas Aroney and Director of Neumann & Turnour Lawyers, Mark Fowler, who gave enlightening presentations on the contemporary issues faced by religious publishers.
They were followed by Salvation Army speaker, Casy O’Bien Machado, and Queensland State Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Wendy Francis, both of whom focused on the topic, Being salt and light in a post-Christendom and globally connected word.
The conference also gave delegates an opportunity to follow a variety of seminars on the importance of religious voices in social media and the responsibility of journalists to give religious stories as much exposure as mainstream media news.
Mr Ramon Williams was also present at the awards dinner and personally presented the scholarship winners their awards.
Mr Williams has been involved with ARPA since its existence and has contributed in a variety of ways to the Church in Australia, especially serving ARPA members through the provision of photographic material and press releases.
He has been a source of great personal encouragement for many Christians in the media.