AddThis SmartLayers

Evening Post is the big winner at EDF Energy South West Media Awards

The Bristol Evening Post has triumphed at the EDF Energy South West Media Awards 2007, winning four of the major awards.

The paper was named Daily Newspaper of the Year, with the team also scooping Front Page of the Year for its treatment of the story of a child rapist, (below), living in the chief constable’s private apartment at the police HQ.

  • Front Page of the Year 2007
  • Chris Allen, who wrote the story for the V.I.PAEDO front page of the year was named Print Journalist of the Year (Daily), for “the kind of strong stories that you’d definitely be talking about in the pub”, and Suzanne Savill won Feature Writer of the Year, to cap a tremendous day for editor Mike Norton and his staff.

    The judges singled out the Post as Newspaper of the Year, saying: “The Bristol Evening Post is a newspaper with great local content, strong design and clear links through to its website on every page.”

    The judges felt that the Post had quality throughout, a high story count with a succession of exclusives and not a wasted page.

    They said: “It really does seem to be living up to its new slogan – at the heart of all things local. A significant sales increase seems to show that all the effort is definitely getting results.”

    The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald scooped its own double by retaining the title it won last year, as Weekly Newspaper of the Year (Paid-for).

    Judges said: “It has masses of content and a nice and tidy design. It’s crammed with readers’ letters and has all the important information you would want from a weekly paper.

    “There’s a fantastic in-depth sports section – page after page of it – with latest sports news, match reports, statistics and seven columnists from the worlds of football, cricket, speedway and ice hockey.

    “It’s a paper with a big local campaigning agenda and comes across as a seriously grown-up newspaper that knows exactly what it’s doing.”

    The Print Journalist of the Year (Weekly) this year was Tom Bevan, of the Western Gazette, who – according to the judges – “clearly worked hard and put in a lot of digging to source the stories in his entry”.

    The Website of the Year prize went to the Express & Echo’s thisisexeter.co.uk, which was praised for improvements and individuality, brought in on the back of a user survey, which had seen a big growth in users.

    The awards were presented by England and county cricketer Jon Lewis and EDF Energy’s Steve Hayfield at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol.

    It was the biggest event yet organised by EDF Energy, with more than 200 print and broadcast journalists present.

    The awards ceremony was the culmination of a contest that attracted a record 240 entries from across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

    The awards, held in association with HoldtheFrontPage, also raised cash for The Journalists’ Charity, which benefits journalists and their dependents in times of personal difficulty, with a £500 donation from the sponsors and a table collection from guests.

    ITV emerged triumphant with wins in four categories.

    Jonathan Gibson, of ITV Westcountry, was TV Journalist of the Year, beating competition from ITV colleagues and the BBC.

    The judges recognised how his work had led to organisations changing their procedures as a result of his findings and “where he led, other broadcasters and national newspapers followed suit”.

    ITV West’s Kirsty Hemming beat three print journalism runners-up to be named Newcomer of the Year, while Jed Pitman beat a host of print journalists to be named Sports Journalist of the Year. West Eye View was the TV News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year.

    Away from the broadcasters, the most closely-fought category was News Photographer of the Year, with more than 30 regional press snappers vying for the top prize.

    Richard Austin, of the Western Morning News – renowned for his wildlife pictures – came out on top, with his son Matthew Austin, of the Express & Echo one of the runners-up. Richard’s pictures “demonstrated a keen eye for a great image, and his animal shots – a sunbathing piglet and gorilla with attitude – showed a “lovely sense of humour”, according to the judging panel.

    And in the first year for Columnist of the Year as a category in the south west, Chris Rundle, of the Western Daily Press, beat two writers from Swindon and one from the Bristol Evening Post to take the title.

    Steve Hayfield, EDF Energy’s director of account and revenue management, who hosted the awards, said: “It’s been a great year. We had a record number of entries, close to 240, which truly shows the quality in depth of the media in the South West.

    “Awards like television journalist, community campaign, weekly and daily newspapers of the year, were particularly fiercely contested and I’m delighted for all the shortlisted finalists and the winners.”

    Click here for the full list of winners and runners-up.

    Back to the awards index


    Have you won a press award? We’d love to hear from you. E-mail [email protected]