Now publisher and editor at The Northern Midlands Courier, Ms Andrews spent more than three decades at The Examiner over three stints, eventually becoming one of the paper's longest-serving members.

Initially starting as a cadet at The Examiner in 1970, Ms Andrews moved to The Sun in Melbourne for several years before returning to Launceston and her self-confessed "professional home".

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Quickly familiarising herself with every aspect of the newsroom, Ms Andrews would eventually take on rural, political and investigative roles, and became well-regarded as one of the state's most important journalistic voices.

After leaving in 1982 to start a family and build her own media and marketing company, Ms Andrews returned to The Examiner in 1994 as a part-time rural reporter but quickly re-established a full-time position at the paper, where she would remain for the next decade and a half.

Despite Ms Andrews becoming one of the paper's most valued voices, when asked to name some of her proudest moments, it was the everyday voices she helped to elevate that continued to resonate with her.

"When I look back, I am pleased to have been able to do the stories that achieved something for people," she said.

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"One of your jobs as a newspaper is to be the voice of your readers who haven't got a voice and to advocate and campaign on their behalf."

With that in mind, Ms Andrews drew attention to the paper's previous campaigns combating the proposed downgrading of both the Launceston General Hospital and the city's University of Tasmania campus as two successes during her tenure.

She was also proud of her involvement in a successful two-year campaign to prevent the federal government extraditing a refugee family who had settled in Launceston.

As chief of staff, Ms Andrews helped navigate the paper's coverage following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

In 2006, Ms Andrews would lead the nation's coverage of the Beaconsfield Mine collapse, which left two miners trapped and one dead.

For eight years, Ms Andrews wrote the popular column Ali's People, through which she profiled hundreds of everyday Tasmanians. In 2008, a collection of her columns was published under the title Ali's People - 100 of Alison Andrews' interviews with Tasmanian locals.

Sales of the book helped raise funds for charity.

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Finally leaving The Examiner in 2013, Ms Andrews spent some time working in the political sphere before returning to journalism after buying The Northern Midlands Courier.

Ms Andrews runs the paper from the same Longford house she grew up in and continues to champion the voices of her community.

"It's one of the privileges of this profession, to get to know the voices in your community," she said.

Commenting on her honour, Ms Andrews said it was fabulous to see media being recognised in the awards.

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