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Regional websites do battle for digital awards

A number of regional newspaper websites will battle it out to be named the top local news site in the Online Media Awards.

The Belfast Telegraph, Glasgow-based The Herald, the Lancashire Telegraph, Southern Daily Echo and South Wales Argus are among the nine shortlisted entrants for the best local/regional news site, while hyperlocal sites SoGlos and the Lincolnite are also nominated.

They are up against the BBC’s East Midlands site and Sky Tyne and Wear

The Bel Tel is also nominated in the best designed site category and will fight against national sites including Metro and Sky News for the honour.

A new Sunday Herald Life app, which was launched this year, is shortlisted in the best app category against the likes of The Economist, Sky News and Reuters.

The awards, which mainly cover national news websites, are run by media website The Drum and will be held at the Emirates Stadium on 12 June.

At last year’s awards, the Belfast Telegraph won the best regional news site category, while the South Wales Argus was highly commended for the best use of social media.

Gordon Young, publisher of The Drum and organiser of the awards, said: “This year’s fantastic list of nominations truly reflects the rapid development and investment in the online side of the newspaper publishing business.  They provide strong evidence that publishers are understanding the online dynamic and pushing the boundaries into new and exciting territories.’

“The standard and variety of entries has been extremely high this year and this has ensured a high calibre shortlist. Our judges really have had their work cut out in terms of deciding who will pick up the prestigious awards in June.”

There are 24 categories, including seven new ones for this year. The full shortlist can be viewed here.