Former BBC foreign correspondent Martin Bell will appear at the Winter Words Festival, in Pitlochry near Dundee. The annual festival, held from January 24 to 27, celebrates all things literary such as poetry, stories and memoirs.
Other speakers lined up include former Tory MP Michael Portillo, comedian Stuart Maconie and MSP for Tayside North John Swinney.

The Global Health Council is taking nominations for its Excellence in Media Award for Global Health. The prize recognises a journalist, from any type of media, who has effectively reported an important global health issue.
Stories must have been printed or broadcast between February 1, 2007 and February 1, 2008. Deadline for entries is February 1 – for more information e-mail [email protected].

A campaign by Southampton’s Southern Daily Echo has received international backing. The paper is fighting for a fitting memorial in the city to the World War II Spitfire fighter plane.
Captain Goh Keng Loon, from the Malaysian Air Force, said he was following the story with interest online as the Spitfire inspired him to become a pilot.

Former Glenrothes Gazette reporter Jackie Balfour has recorded a CD about his time at the paper.
The folk singer – known to fans as Jackie Leven – worked for the Gazette in the 1960s before becoming a musician. His songs about life at the paper appear on his new album Chip Pan Fire.

Coventry University student George Barrow has won the 2007 Sir William Lyons Award for motoring journalism.
George, studying the postgraduate automotive journalism course, took the prestigious prize which has proved a stepping stone for the careers of many motoring journalists.

Fraser Kemp MP put forward an Early Day Motion praising a campaign by the Sunderland Echo. The paper is currently collecting toys for its annual appeal which will go to children in need across the city.