Being described as a “Walkley winning journalist of the future” must be a heady feeling for any communication student. Matthew Brann, a Charles Sturt University theatre media student in Bathurst has just taken out the radio section of the 2006 JUST Super Student Journalist of the Year Award, announced by JUST Super and the Walkley Foundation. Matthew says his radio item, A Darling Place grew out of his major work last year. “I travelled the Darling River doing stories about the river and its impact on the local communities, where the drought is really affecting small towns. I focused on my own style, which uses a lot of music and actuality.” The judges obviously liked what they heard, saying A Darling Place was a “lovely, whimsical yarn. It provides a wonderful slice of country life that is not often heard in mainstream Australian media”.