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News takes top honours as awards mark 10 years

Portsmouth daily The News took top honours at yesterday’s EDF Energy awards for London and the South of England being named best daily newspaper as well as winning the daily print journalist prize.

The Johnston Press-owned title won the coveted Daily Newspaper of the Year prize at the event, held at the Amex Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium.

News reporter Claire French also won the Daily Print Journalist of the year prize while sports writer Jordan Cross was named Columnist of the Year.

The awards, held in association with HoldtheFrontPage, honour the best in journalism across London, Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Berkshire, Hampshire and Dorset and are now in their tenth year.

The open letter has been signed by editor Mark Waldron and several local politicians

Paralympian Lauren Steadman and Andrew Brown, EDF Energy’s Brand Sustainability and External Communications Director, handed out the awards at the event, which helped raise money for The Journalists’ Charity.

Said Andrew: “The awards are testimony to the commitment of EDF Energy to engage positively with the journalist community.

“Over the past decade they have become a benchmark and a seal of approval for the great journalism produced across the region. Congratulations to all the winners.”

Paul Linford, publisher of HoldtheFrontPage added: “The London and South of England awards have always been highly sought-after within the region and after ten years it’s great to see the level of entries continuing to grow.

“As usual the standard of those entries was incredibly high and choosing the winners was a tough challenge for the judges.”

Also among the winners were the Kent and Sussex Courier which was named Weekly Paid For Newspaper while Kent on Sunday was announced as Weekly Free Newspaper of the Year.

Kent Messenger Group’s kentonline.co.uk was crowned Website of the Year, the Southern Daily Echo Front Page of the Year. Sevenoaks Chronicle took the Newcomer of the Year award and The Argus won Photographer of the Year.

Gareth Davies, of the Croydon Advertiser, won two awards, Digital Journalist and Weekly Print Journalist, for the second year in a row.

Individual winners received a £100 cheque, certificate and trophy at the celebration presentation event courtesy of EDF Energy.

The full list of winners was as follows:

Newcomer of the Year: Sean-Paul Doran, Sevenoaks Chronicle

Digital Journalist of the Year: Gareth Davies, Croydon Advertiser

Specialist Journalist of the Year: Tara Russell, Southern Daily Echo

Sports Journalist of the Year: Rags Martel, ITV News London

Columnist of the Year: Jordan Cross, The News, Portsmouth

Feature Writer of the Year: Lesley Bellew, Kent Messenger Group

Designer of the Year: Alex Leys, Croydon Advertiser

Photographer of the Year: Liz Finlayson, The Argus

Radio Journalist of the Year: Michael Coombes, Wave 105

Television Journalist of the year: Guy Lynn, BBC London News

Weekly Print Journalist of the Year: Gareth Davies Croydon Advertiser

Daily Print Journalist of the Year: Claire French, The News, Portsmouth

Front Page of the Year: Southern Daily Echo, Never Lose Hope

Community Campaign of the Year: Battle Observer, Save Battle Fire Station

Website of the Year: Kent Messenger Group, www.kentonline.co.uk

Radio Programme of the Year: BBC Surrey, The Surrey Shoebox

Television Programme of the Year: ITV News Meridian, D-Day

Weekly (free) Newspaper of the Year: Kent on Sunday

Weekly (paid for) Newspaper of the Year: Kent and Sussex Courier

Daily Newspaper of the Year: The News, Portsmouth