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Judging line-up for EDF Energy London & South Media Awards

The judging line-up has been confirmed with the deadline for the EDF Energy London and South of England Media Awards looming.

The awards, run in association with holdthefrontpage.co.uk, are open to print and broadcast journalists working in Dorset, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Kent, Surrey and London.

Entries are already flooding in, with contributions so far from daily and weekly newspapers, and local radio stations.

Society of Editors executive director Bob Satchwell and Nottingham Evening Post editor Malcolm Pheby are among the regional press experts ready to take a look at the entries.

The deadline is just days away, with entries due to be submitted by the end of this week.

The judges will be reviewing work in 19 categories, before deciding on the nominees for the awards presentation event at Sandown Park racecourse in October.

Also judging at the holdthefrontpage office next week are Lincolnshire Newspapers managing editor Tim Robinson, former Brighton Argus photographer and John Connor agency man Nigel Bowles, and Dan Pritchard, EDF Energy’s South West external communications executive.

People can submit work for as many categories as they wish in this free-to-enter competition but each must be accompanied by a separate entry form.

The afternoon event at Sandown, held in association with holdthefrontpage.co.uk, will be the culmination of regional journalists’ efforts during the past year and will see a sporting hero present the awards to the winners.

The entry form can be downloaded and printed out from here.

The judging panel comprises:

  • Malcolm Pheby, editor of the Nottingham Evening Post and regional editorial director of Northcliffe’s Midlands region.
    Prior to being appointed to his current role a year ago, Malcolm was previously deputy editor of the Leicester Mercury before editing the East Anglian Daily Times and Evening Star. After that, he was editorial director for Eastern Counties Newspapers and then managing editor of the Daily Express. His first general management role was as managing director of the Lincolnshire Echo in 1999.
  • Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, has been in his current role since the Society of Editors was formed in 1999 from the Guild of Editors, which he was president of from 1997-8.
    He was also a member of the Editors’ Code Committee, which produces the newspaper and magazine industry’s Code of Practice that is policed by the Press Complaints Commission. He is a non executive director of the National Council for the Training of Journalists and a member of the Newspaper Qualifications Council. He began his career as a graduate trainee at the Lancashire Evening Post in 1970 rising to become associate editor. He went to Fleet Street as assistant editor of the News of the World before returning to regional newspapers as editor of the Cambridge Evening News in 1984, a post he held until 1998.
  • Tim Robinson is editor of the Grantham Journal, which was named Campaigning Weekly Newspaper of the Year 2007 by the Newspaper Society.
    He is also managing editor of Lincolnshire Newspapers, a group of eight paid-for weekly titles which cover market towns and seaside resorts across the county. Tim is a former editor of the Rutland and Stamford Mercury (Britain’s oldest newspaper) and former editor of the Market Harborough and Lutterworth Mail.
  • Nigel Bowles started in press photography 20 years ago working on weekly newspapers on the south coast before moving to The Argus where he spent five years on the picture desk. He left to set up the photographic department at John Connor Press Associates, where award-winning photographers take pictures for the national press, magazine and a number of corporate clients.
  • Karen Ainley. Former BBC local radio and regional TV reporter and presenter Karen began her journalism career as a reporter on evening and weekly local papers and is an experienced CIPR-approved media trainer.
  • Dan Pritchard, EDF Energy’s external communications executive for the South West, worked in regional newspapers and television in the east of England for five years, before joining Norfolk County Council’s communications unit, where he worked as a communications officer for more than four years. He is now leading PR activity for the company in the South West.

    There are 19 categories to enter, and newspaper staff can enter as many relevant categories as they wish, with no entry fee.

    Categories for individuals include:

    – Print Journalist of the Year (Daily)
    – Print Journalist of the Year (Weekly)
    – Radio Journalist of the Year
    – Television Journalist of the Year
    – Newcomer of the Year
    – Feature Writer of the Year
    – News Photographer of the Year
    – Sports Journalist of the Year
    – Business Journalist of the Year
    – Environmental Journalist of the Year
    – Columnist of the Year

    Categories for newspapers and broadcasting companies comprise:

    – Daily Newspaper of the Year
    – Weekly Newspaper of the Year (Paid-for)
    – Weekly Newspaper of the Year (Free)
    – Front Page of the Year
    – Radio News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year
    – Television News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year
    – Website of the Year
    – Community Campaign of the Year

    Entries must be received by 5pm on Friday August 24, and should be sent to:

    Patrick Astill,
    HoldtheFrontPage,
    AND,
    Ground Floor,
    East Point,
    Cardinal Square,
    10 Nottingham Road,
    Derby DE1 3QT.

    Questions or queries about the awards or the event itself, should be e-mailed to [email protected] or [email protected].