The popular Race in the Media Awards have been given a new look, which organisers say will see the event return "bigger and better than ever".

The event, hosted by the Commission for Racial Equality, has been running for 11 years but was put on hold this year so that changes could be made to its format to reflect developments in the media industry.

In preparation for next year's competition, organisers have launched a new website and revealed the new-look categories, which will now include film and media organisation of the year.

In addition there will also be categories for national newspaper, local newspaper, specialist magazine, consumer magazine, TV news, TV factual, TV drama, TV soap, radio news, radio factual, radio drama, new media and media personality of the year.

The competition rewards all areas of the media for helping public understanding of race or cultural issues and reporting them in a responsible and sensitive way.

Organisers say issues such as integration and diversity, Islamophobia, migration from the expanded EU, asylum and the continuing discrimination faced by settled minorities such as gypsies and travellers still present challenges to all who work in the media.

In the most recent awards the Coventry Evening Telegraph was named Regional and Local Newspaper of the Year for its features on asylum seekers and refugees in the city.

Judges voted feature writer Paul Barry's work as the best in its field after he co-ordinated an "important" series of articles on the topic.

Entries for the 2005 competition will be invited in the autumn.

Back to the awards index

Have you won a press award? We'd love to hear from you.
E-mail pastill@nep.co.uk