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Derby daily secures Midlands newspaper crown

The Derby Telegraph scooped the main honours at last night’s Midlands Media Awards being named Newspaper of the Year for the region along with three other prizes.

The Local World daily overcame opposition from last year’s winner the Lincolnshire Echo along with six other contenders to be named the top newspaper in the region.

There was also a double success for the paper’s education correspondent Zena Hawley who was named Journalist of the Year and also won Scoop of the Year for her story about teachers being forced to wear veils at the city’s Al-Medinah School.

However Zena lost out to her daughter, Telegraph health correspondent Caroline Jones, in the Campaign of the Year category.  Caroline took the honours with “Save a Life, which resulted in hundreds of readers signing up for first-aid classes.

Derby Telegraph editor Neil White, right, and his team after receiving their Newspaper of the Year award

Commenting on the Telegraph’s success, chair of judges Peter Lowe, of Sky News, singled out its coverage of the Mick and Mairead Philpott murder trial as well as the Al-Medinah School saga.

“This year, we found it extremely difficult to draw dividing lines between very high quality work from newspapers around the region,” he said.

“But in a year in which they were in the forefront of reporting the tragic and challenging Philpotts story, where they led a campaign to help preserve the future of an important local employer and in which they broke the story about the Al-Medinah free school, which was picked up by national newspapers and broadcasters, the Derby Telegraph was judged the outstanding publication.

“It has strong journalism, it campaigns successfully for the people it serves and it has very bold and impactful front-page treatments.”

The awards, organised by Birmingham Press Club, were handed out last night in a ceremony at Birmingham Airport attended by 300 guests.

Other winners included Birmingham Mail’s business editor, Jon Griffin, who retained his crown as Business Journalist of the Year after an investigation which led to two fraudsters being jailed.

Jon’s colleagues Justine Halifax and Katy Hallam won Feature Writer of the Year and News Reporter of the Year (Daily), respectively, while the Birmingham Mail itself won News Website of the Year.

And there was a twin-success for the Express & Star, with Martin Swain winning Sports Journalist of the Year and Daniel Wainwright taking the Columnist of the Year award.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Blogger of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham City University.  Winner – Lewis Pacelli & Andy Taylor – Down the 18th.

Business Journalist of the Year – Sponsored by Barclays. Winner – Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

Campaign of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham Airport. Winner – Caroline Jones, Derby Telegraph

Columnist of the Year – Sponsored by Planet Rock. Winner – Daniel Wainwright, Express & Star

Feature Writer of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham City University. Winner – Justine Halifax, Birmingham Mail

Headline of the Year – Sponsored by Barclays.  Winner – John Butterworth, Black Country Bugle. “Has Dudley Council Lost the Plot?”

Journalist of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham Airport.  Winner – Zena Hawley, Derby Telegraph

Magazine of the Year – Sponsored by Cloud 9 Event Management. Winner – artsbeat

Newcomer/Student of the Year – Sponsored by Bournville College. Winner – Emma Burrows, ITV News Central

Newspaper of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham Airport.  Winner – Derby Telegraph

News Photo of the Year – Sponsored by Drayton Manor Theme Park.  Winner – Will Johnston, Leicester Mercury

News Reporter of the Year (Daily) – Sponsored by The Journalists’ Charity.  Winner –Katy Hallam, Birmingham Mail

News Reporter of the Year (Weekly) – Sponsored by The Journalists’ Charity. Winner – Adam Smith, Halesowen News

News Website of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham Airport.  Winner – Birmingham Mail

Public Choice – Sponsored by Birmingham Press Club.  Winner – Dine Birmingham, a platform for reviews and news about the city’s thriving gastro scene.

Radio Journalist of the Year – Sponsored by Staffordshire University. Winner – Qasa Alom, BBC Radio Stoke

Scoop of the Year – Sponsored by Staffordshire University. Winner – Zena Hawley, Derby Telegraph

Sports Journalist of the Year – Sponsored by Aston Villa Football Club.  Winner – Martin Swain, Express & Star

Sports Photographer of the Year – Sponsored by Digital Imaging.  Winner – Mike Sewell, Leicester Mercury

Supplement of the Year – Sponsored by Drayton Manor Theme Park.  Winner – Lincolnshire Echo

Television Journalist of the Year – Sponsored by Ember Television. Winner – Victoria Davies, ITV News Central

The Tony Flanagan Award for News Photographer of the Year – Sponsored by Birmingham Press Club.  Winner – Darren Quinton, Birmingham Post & Mail

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  • June 6, 2014 at 10:03 am
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    Congratulations Neil, it’s been a great year for the Telegraph. The coverage of the Philpott case was so brilliant I added your newspaper to my favourites list, even though I have no special interest in the Derbyshire area.

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