The shortlist for the EDF Energy South West Media Awards is revealed today.

The Express & Echo in Exeter tops the nominations, with eight chances of success, with close rivals the Bristol Evening Post and Western Daily Press battling it out for honours with seven nominations apiece.

The Swindon Advertiser has five mentions with the Western Morning News in with a chance of glory in four categories.

Among the weeklies, the West Briton and Western Gazette lead the field with two nominations each.

ITV West, ITV Westcountry and the BBC in Bristol are set to fight it our for honours with listings both in the broadcast categories and for awards where they have been judged against their peers in print journalism.

In a new category for these awards, for Columnist of the Year, Stephanie Tye and Michelle Tompkins, both from the Swindon Advertiser, are up against Cris Warren, of the Bristol Evening Post, and Chris Rundle from the Western Daily Press. The category proved popular with 20 entries from around the region.

Thirty photographers entered, with snappers from the Bristol Evening Post, Express & Echo, Gloucestershire Media and the Western Morning News winning through.

Judges sifted through a record 240 entries for the awards, held in association with holdthefrontpage.co.uk, and spent more than seven hours reading, watching and debating the results.

HTFP publisher Patrick Astill said: “These journalism awards for the south west go from strength to strength each year and this event – the third supported by EDF Energy in this region – looks set to be the most successful yet.

“The judges faced some tough choices in some categories and there was interesting debate to pick the nominees and winners.”

The awards cover daily and weekly newspapers and broadcasters in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

The presentation ceremony will be held at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol on Tuesday, June 12.

The full nomination list can be found by
clicking here.