Journalists from across the West Midlands were celebrating last night as a host of prizes were handed out at the inaugural West Midlands Media Awards.

Winners included staff from the Sunday Mercury, Hinckley Times, and Northcliffe Electronic Publishing, with a hat-trick of awards each for the Birmingham Post, Birmingham Evening Mail and The Sentinel in Stoke.

There was also a special category for the person or organisation deemed ‘Irritant of the Year’, which was won by the West Midlands Police Press Office.

The winners were announced during a ceremony held at Birmingham’s Burlington Hotel and hosted by former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie and Carlton TV presenter Bob Warman.

Andrew Sparrow, chairman of Birmingham’s Press Club, which organised the event, said: “The awards evening was a spectacular success, and not just because it was a sell-out.

“It proved that the region has a huge depth of quality in terms of the media that serves it. Congratulations to all our winners.”

The winners were:

Scoop of the Year
Paul Dale, Birmingham Post

Newspaper of the Year
The Sentinel

Daily News Reporter of the Year
Catherine Hendrick, Birmingham Evening Mail

Weekly News Reporter of the Year
Sian Powell, Hinckley Times

News Photographer of the Year
Trevor Roberts, Birmingham Evening Mail

Sports Photographer of the Year
Tim Harley-Easthope, Birmingham Evening Mail

Sports Journalist of the Year
Martin Spinks, The Sentinel

Business Journalist of the Year
Stephen Houghton, The Sentinel

Newcomer of the Year
Sophie Blakemore, Birmingham Post

Best Use of Technology
Beehive Community Network, Northcliffe Electronic Publishing

Best Advocate for the Region
Paul Dale, Birmingham Post

Headline of the Year
Andy Mallabone, Sunday Mercury

Irritant of the Year
West Midlands Police Press Office

A top prize of £1,000 was awarded to the winner of the Scoop of the Year category, and the winners of Newspaper of the Year and Irritant of the Year received engraved trophies.

Other category winners all received £250.

The competition was open to all forms of media from newspapers to broadcasting and the Internet, from those working in the ‘wider’ West Midlands area, which included Derby and Nottingham in the north, Leicester in the east, Telford to the west and Worcester to the south.

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