Former Sentinel-Times journalist wins Quill Award

FORMER Sentinel-Times journalist and Leongatha native Ashlee Aldridge has claimed one of Australian journalism’s top honours taking home a Quill Award and using it to write her name in the history books.

Aldridge, who currently works for ABC News, won the Best Breaking News or Live Coverage category at the 31st annual Quill Awards held at Crown Palladium on Friday March 20.

The ceremony acknowledged the best Victorian journalism for the 2025 calendar year.

The award was given to Aldridge in recognition of her coverage of the tragic Porepunkah police shooting in August of last year which saw two police officers shot dead by Desmond (Dezi) Freeman as they attempted to execute a warrant.

It was a highly sensitive story that unfolded in real time and the judges praised Aldridge’s ability to act quickly and deliver high-quality coverage under pressure.

In their citation the judges noted she was the first reporter on the scene going on to deliver nine continuous hours of coverage while working solo filming her own footage capturing still images updating blogs all while juggling live radio and television crosses.

They described her work as demonstrating “remarkable skill” during a difficult assignment and that she managed to deliver coverage typically handled by multiple crews.

“It took a few seconds for it to really sink in that I had actually won,” she said.

“The Highly Commended went to 7News for their coverage of the same incident and our entries had very similar titles so at first I thought that was what had been announced.

“Then one of my live crosses from the day started playing on the screens and I realised I had won.”

The sheer scale of the occasion added to her emotion.

“To then win in a room full of presenters and journalists I’ve looked up to since I was at school was quite overwhelming.

“It’s a night I’ll remember for a long time.”

Beginning her career in South Gippsland and working for the Sentinel-Times for seven years after returning home from university in Sydney, Aldridge says she still credits those regional roots today.

“I see it as recognition not just for me but for regional journalism more broadly,” she said.

“There’s so much important work happening in regional areas and I hope this helps shine a light on that and opens the door for others to be recognised on this kind of stage.”

Her award-winning coverage began from a tip-off detailing a heavy police presence in Porepunkah.

Within hours Aldridge was reporting live from the scene as details emerged.

Yet even so Aldridge admits that she is her own toughest critic.

“I tend to be my own harshest critic so there are always things I’d probably do differently from a technical perspective,” she said.

“But given how quickly everything unfolded I’m proud of the job I was able to do at the time.”

She also acknowledged the help she received behind the scenes.

“I’m incredibly grateful to my ABC colleagues. I was so well supported from the moment I got the call,” she said.

“I’m also very thankful to the people who spoke with me. They were generous with their time during what was an incredibly difficult period.

“Without them that coverage wouldn’t have been possible.”