Nominations for the 2008 Scottish Press Awards are now being sought.

And this year the annual awards ceremony, organised by the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society, welcomes two new categories – Sports Scoop of the Year and Magazine Writer of the Year.

Entrants have a further month to collate their cuttings before the new year deadline ahead of April’s awards ceremony.

Bill Hutcheon, chairman of the Editors’ Committee at the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society, said: “The industry has been at the forefront of reporting what can only be described as a historic news year for Scotland.

“The coverage of the changing political and economic Scottish landscape has been delivered with insightful precision and to great accolades.

“The awards are a platform for the newspaper and magazine industries to demonstrate the ever-growing talent that exists in journalism and photography in Scotland.

“Last year we received 371 entries, an increase on the previous year, and we hope to exceed this number this year.”

A total of 22 different prizes are up for grabs and nominations are open to all journalists and photographers working for newspapers or magazines in Scotland.

Scotland-based journalists and photographers writing exclusively on Scottish affairs for non-Scottish publications are also encouraged to enter.

The prize categories are:

Newspaper of the Year
Weekly Newspaper of the Year
Journalist of the Year
Reporter of the Year
Young Journalist of the Year
Scoop of the Year
Front Page of the Year
Campaign of the Year
Journalist Team of the Year
Financial/Business Journalist of the Year
Political Journalist of the Year
Columnist of the Year
Newspaper Feature Writer of the Year
Magazine Writer of the Year
Sports Feature Writer of the Year
Sports News Writer of the Year
Sports Scoop of the Year
Arts/Entertainment Journalist of the Year
Cartoonist of the Year
Gaelic Journalist of the Year
News Photographer of the Year
Sports Photographer of the Year

All entries must have been published during 2007 only and the deadline for submissions is January 23.

All cuttings and photographs can be sent to Event Consultants Scotland, 1a Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6JX. For more information and an entry form visit www.eventconsultants.com or call 0131 557 5767.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Radisson SAS Hotel, in Glasgow, on April 17.