AddThis SmartLayers

Herald named best Highland and Islands paper

The Strathspey and Badenoch Herald has been named Newspaper of the Year at the Highland and Islands Media Awards.

Editor Gavin Musgrove will receive a cheque for £500, to be donated to a charity of the newspaper’s choice.

Kingussie-based reporter Jane Candlish completed a double for the “Strathy” by winning the Young Journalist of the Year award – the Alex Main Trophy.

The Northern Scot also scored a double success, with journalist Leanne Carter winning the Local Newspaper Reporter of the Year Award and Bob Bruce being named Local Newspaper Photographer of the Year.

Other winners included Alan Hendry, editor of the John O’Groat Journal/Caithness Courier, who judges chose as this year’s Feature Writer of the Year, and Lorraine Shearer from the Orcadian, a former Journalist of the Year, who was named Reporter of the Year.

The Sports Writer of the Year Award went to Charles Bannerman, a freelance writer, for his contributions to the Highland News, while the Photographer of the Year award went to Iain Ferguson from The Write Image, Fort William.

The Community Newspaper of the Year prize went to Rudhach, Point, Lewis. The 10 issues per year newspaper, established in January 2001 with a circulation of 900, will receive a cheque for £300, £100 of which will go to local charity.

All the awards will be presented during the Highlands and Islands Press Ball on February 4, when the winner of the final award, for Journalist of the Year, will also be announced.

A full list of winners and runners-up is below:

Local Newspaper Photographer of the Year:
Winner: Bob Bruce, Northern Scot
Highly Commended: Ken Amer, Orkney Photographic

Photographer of the Year:
Winner: Iain Ferguson, The Write Image, Fort William
Highly Commended: Trevor Martin, freelance, Inverness

Young Journalist of the Year:
Winner: Jane Candlish, Strathspey and Badenoch Herald
Highly Commended: Ally McGilvray, John O’Groat Journal

Sports Writer of the Year:
Winner: Charles Bannerman, freelance
Highly Commended: Eric Mackinnon, Hebridean

Local Reporter of the Year:
Winner: Leanne Carter, Northern Scot, Elgin
Highly Commended: Donald Wilson, Inverness Courier

Reporter of the Year:
Winner: Lorraine Shearer, Orcadian
Highly Commended: Peter Jones, Moray News Agency

Feature Writer of the Year:
Winner: Alan Hendry, John O’Groat Journal
Highly Commended: Rachael Cox, Executive Magazine

Community Newspaper of the Year:
Winner: Rudhach, Point, Lewis

Newspaper of the Year:
Winner: Strathspey and Badenoch Herald