Carlisle-based CN Group celebrated a double victory in the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards for 2013.
The group took home two of the Newspaper of the Year Awards for Weekly Newspaper (Above 20,000) for The Cumberland News and Daily/Sunday Newspaper (Below 25.000) for the Carlisle News & Star.
Celebrating the best of local and regional newspaper journalism, the awards were handed out at a lunchtime ceremony at the Lancaster London Hotel on Friday by award winning LBC radio presenter Nick Ferrari.
Winning the award for the second year running, the judges said that The Cumberland News offered a great value package with comprehensive news coverage, exceptional use of digital innovation and includes eye-catching supplements.
They added: “With a range of local exclusives and a strong link with the community, it continues to be an excellent top-quality read. “
The Express & Star, Wolverhampton was crowned the Daily/Sunday Newspaper (Above 25,000) while the Brentwood Gazette took home the Weekly Newspaper (Below 20,000) following on from its success in the same category for work published in 2012.
The Local World group won six awards with its titles winning the Feature Writer of the Year for Lee Marlow of the Leicester Mercury and Weekly Reporter of the Year for the Croydon Advertiser’s Gareth Davies.
Anna Draper of the Lincolnshire Echo took home Weekly Photographer of the Year while Will Johnston of the Leicester Mercury was crowned in the corresponding daily/Sunday category.
The group’s Zena Hawley of the Derby Telegraph was awarded Scoop of the Year for her investigation into teachers at a City Muslim School being ordered to wear hijabs.
The judges said that it made headlines across the world.
They added: “Resulting in Ofsted inspections, a damning report, the resignation of the founding trustees and an exclusive interview with David Cameron, the ripple effect still continues today.”
Jon Colman of the Carlisle News & Star took home the Daily/Sunday Sports Journalist of the Year Award while the Front Page of the Year went to the North West Evening’s Mail’s ‘Hear Our Voices’ entry.
The image included a mosaic of a baby’s face, made up of thousands of tiles, each of which was a picture of a local person who had backed a campaign to save hospital maternity services.
The judges said that it was original, thought-provoking and boasted powerful reader involvement.
They added: “Aside from being an eye-catching image, it resulted in a highly successful campaign and was an example of truly excellent local journalism.”
Newsquest group newspapers took home five awards including Young Journalist of the Year for The Argus’ Ben Leo while the Basildon Echo’s Jon Austin and Sadie Hasler won the Specialist Journalist of the Year and Columnist of the Year accolades.The Daily/Sunday Reporter of the Year accolade was awarded to Ben Wilkinson of the Oxford Mail.Trinity Mirror titles swept the board in the digital and design categories. The Manchester Evening News won the Website of the Year Award while last year’s winner, the Liverpool Echo was awarded The Digital Award for innovation.Gary Beckwith of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle was named Designer of the Year and the Supplement of the Year accolade was awarded to the Western Mail’s Week End magazine.A new specialist Journalists’ Charity Award was presented to Peter Barron, long-standing editor of the Northern Echo.Deric Henderson, recently retired Ireland Editor of the Press Association was also awarded the Chairman’s Special Award after a career with the press agency spanning 45 years.Newspaper Society President Adrian Jeakings of Archant announced that the winner of the Making a Difference people’s choice online vote for the best local newspaper campaign of the past year. Organised as part of Local Newspaper Week by the Newspaper Society the award went to The Yorkshire Post for Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic.Chairman of the judges, former SoE president and former editor of the Manchester Evening News, Paul Horrocks, said: “I was delighted to be asked to be chairman of the judges for a third year and as a former president I am especially pleased that the Society of Editors drives the awards – and the celebration.“The judging has been meticulous and carried out with dedication, care and debate by a team of independent editorial experts with long standing and experience. It is a much over-used phrase – but the standard of entries was superb and the judging process careful with much debate.”Bob Satchwell Executive director of the Society of Editors said “Congratulations to all of this year’s winners who have yet again demonstrated the vital public service that they continue to perform.”The awards were made possible by the lead sponsorship of UK Power Networks. They were supported by Asda, the Gorkana Group, JTI, ABC and Foot Anstey solicitors and were held in association with HoldTheFrontPage and the Press Association.The Society of Editors, which has been supported by Camelot since 2001, organises the awards in conjunction with the Newspaper Society on behalf of the industry.A full list of winners and highly commended appears below.Video from Silverstream TV, high resolution pictures and citations for the winners will be available at www.regionalpressawards.org.uk.
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Winners and Highly Commended
YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: Ben Leo – The ArgusHighly commended: Katy Hallam – Birmingham Mail
Anthony Joseph – Aberdeen Evening Express
BUSINESS AND FINANCE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: Ben Woods – Eastern Daily Press
Highly commended: Simon Bain – The Herald, Glasgow
Robin Johnson – Derby Telegraph
SPECIALIST WRITER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Jon Austin – Basildon/Southend Echo
Highly commended: Ciaran Barnes – Sunday Life
FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Lee Marlow – Leicester Mercury
Highly commended: Jayne Dawson – Yorkshire Evening Post
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: Sadie Hasler – The Echo, Basildon
Highly commended: Jim Crumley – The Courier, Dundee
BLOG OF THE YEAR
Winner: Peter Rhodes – Express & Star, Wolverhampton
WEEKLY SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: Chris Harby – Melton Times
Highly commended: David Powell – North Devon Journal
DAILY/SUNDAY SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: Jon Colman – Carlisle News & Star
Highly commended: Neil Cameron – Newcastle Evening Chronicle
WEEKLY REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Gareth Davies – Croydon Advertiser
Highly commended: Adam Binnie – Watford Observer
DAILY/SUNDAY REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Ben Wilkinson – Oxford Mail
Highly commended: Aasma Day – Lancashire Evening Post
WEEKLY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Anna Draper – Lincolnshire Echo
Highly commended: Stephen Garnett – Craven Herald
DAILY/SUNDAY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Will Johnston – Leicester Mercury
Highly commended: Stuart Boulton – The Northern Echo
DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Gary Beckwith – Newcastle Evening Chronicle
Highly commended: Annette Hudson – Eastern Daily Press
SUPPLEMENT OF THE YEAR
Winner: Week End – Western Mail
Highly commended: Bullfinch Trial Special Edition – Oxford Mail
FRONT PAGE OF THE YEAR
Winner: ‘Hear Our Voices’ – North West Evening Mail
Highly commended: ‘We’ll Always Remember Her’ – The Northern Echo
SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Winner: ‘Teachers at City Muslim school ‘ordered to wear hijabs’ – Zena Hawley – Derby Telegraph
Highly commended: ‘The many lives of Basildon’s own Walter Mitty’ – Jon Austin – Basildon/Southend Echo
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Winner: ‘Save the Whittington Hospital’ – Camden New Journal
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR
Winner: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk – Manchester Evening News
Highly commended: Kent Online – KM Group
THE DIGITAL AWARD
Winner: Liverpool Echo
Highly commended: ExpressandStar.com – Express & Star, Wolverhampton
WalesOnline – Media Wales
JOURNALISTS’ CHARITY AWARD
Winner: Peter Barron, editor, The Northern Echo
CHAIRMAN’S SPECIAL AWARD
Winner: Deric Henderson, Press Association
WEEKLY NEWSPAPER (BELOW 20,000)
Winner: Brentwood Gazette
Highly commended: Keighley News
WEEKLY NEWSPAPER (ABOVE 20,000)
Winner: The Cumberland News
Highly commended: Cornish Guardian
DAILY/SUNDAY NEWSPAPER (BELOW 25,000)
Winner: Carlisle News & Star
Highly commended: The Journal, Newcastle
DAILY/SUNDAY NEWSPAPER (ABOVE 25,000)
Winner: Express & Star, Wolverhampton
Highly commended: Hull Daily Mail
NS MAKING A DIFFERENCE CAMPAIGN
Winner: Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic, The Yorkshire Post
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