The BT Midlands Press and Broadcast Awards are being scrapped in their present form after six years.

Journalists at last night’s ceremony in Birmingham were told the awards would be replaced by “a programme that better reflects the way that BT is transforming itself from a telephone company to a total communications company”.

This year’s awards attracted almost 300 entries. The 13 winners go through to the national finals in London on June 29.

The Sunday Mercury won two categories and was runner-up in one, while the Birmingham Evening Mail won three individual titles.

All the winners in the Radio News Broadcaster category were from the BBC – because only BBC staff entered. This prompted one of the judges, Gillian Reynolds, of the Daily Telegraph, to lament the lack of effort being put into local news reporting by commercial radio.

Judges were headed BT’s director of external communcations, Ted Graham, and included:

• Pat Collins, chief sports writer with the Mail on Sunday.
• Hugh Whittow, deputy editor of the Daily Star;
• Mike Dunn, sports editor at the News of the World.
• Gillian Reynolds, the Daily Telegraph’s radio correspondent;
• Adrian Seal, group editor of the Surrey Mirror;
• Simon Cole, managing editor of Sky News;
• Marc Reeves, editor of the Reading Chronicle;
• Paul Maidment, editor of FT.com;
• Tim Orchard, BBC controller of news channels;
• Lorraine Butler, features editor at The Times;
• Lynn Cullen, picture editor at The Independent;
• Jason Nisse, business editor at The Independent on Sunday.

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111, x6022, or e-mail us now