The EDF Energy East of England Media Awards for 2011 are open for entry from today.

The awards, held in association with HoldtheFrontPage, aim to honour the best in journalism across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (to the M25).

Now in their seventh year, the awards are open to reporters, photographers, designers, radio and television staff across the region.

The application form and entry guidelines can be downloaded here.

Last year’s winners included the Eastern Daily Press (Daily Newspaper and Website of the Year), Brentwood Gazette (Paid-for Weekly), Colchester Gazette (Community Campaign of the Year) and Norwich Evening News (Front Page).

Amongst individual winners were Georgina Mabee of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph (News Photographer of the Year), Alice Hutton of the Cambridge News (Feature Writer), Lui Straccia of Luton on Sunday (Weekly Print Journalist).

Individual award winners receive a £100 cheque, certificate and trophy, and all those shortlisted, along with their guests, will be invited to a celebration presentation event, courtesy of EDF Energy.

Only material published between 11 October 2010 and 10 October 2011 will be eligible for the awards so please check your entries carefully.

There are 20 categories covering print and broadcast media.

The individual categories are:

Print Journalist of the Year (Daily)
Print Journalist of the Year (Weekly)
Radio Journalist of the Year
Television Journalist of the Year
Newcomer of the Year
Feature Writer of the Year
Designer of the Year
News Photographer of the Year
Sports Journalist of the Year
Business Journalist of the Year
Environmental Journalist of the Year
Columnist of the Year

Categories for newspapers and broadcasting companies are:

Daily Newspaper of the Year
Weekly Newspaper of the Year (Paid-for)
Weekly Newspaper of the Year (Free)
Front Page of the Year
Radio News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year
Television News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year
Website of the Year
Community Campaign of the Year

People can submit work for as many categories as they wish in this competition but each must be accompanied by a separate entry form and approved by their editor.

If you have any questions about the awards or the event itself, please e-mail Becky Clark at EDF Energy or Paul Linford at HTFP.