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Salient top paper...

Salient Reporter

Victoria Students have the best student newspaper in the country.

Salient was judged a "clear winner" by the judges of the New Zealand Student Press Association's annual press confest.

In the competition, the three issues of each student newspaper published prior to July 1 are examined and evaluated by experienced journalists.

Well-known Auckland Star columnist, Mr. R. Gilmore, who announced the joint decision of this year's three-judge panel at NZSPA's winter tournament meeting, said the newspaper appeared to be responsibly conducted and well presented.

Referring to a "topic count" of the student newspapers, Mr. Gilmore said that Salient scored highly in the wide range of subjects dealt with.

He said news stories showed evidence of "leg-work"—or substantial research.

Craccum (Auckland) was placed second and Outspoke (Auckland) and Caclin (Lincoln) were placed third equal.

The Wood Cup for the best news story was awarded to Outspoke for its "spy" story "Our Man In Princes Street." Mr. Gilmore said that the story contained faults of style and presentation but the sheer interest of the facts won it the prize.

On learning that Brigadier Gilbert had referred to this story as "scurrilous and irresponsible," the meeting carried a motion that the Brigadier be informed of the judges' decision.

Salient's exposure of Kevin Sinclair's reporting in "Truth loses out" also won a high rating and praise from the judges.

In the Fleming Memorial award for feature writing, a difficulty arose when it was found that the two winning entries were written by non-students. The award was, after discussion, split into two. One was awarded to the editor of Canta, as the editor who had secured both the features from non-students. The other was awarded to Mr. H. Young, also of Canta, for his feature "Student Rights."