Communications giant O2 has launched a third set of regional press awards, this time for journalists working in Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

The mobile phone company has already launched awards in Cheshire and Merseyside and Yorkshire and The Humber and now the scheme is being rolled out to a third region.

O2 already has a strong presence in Greater Manchester, employing more than 1,400 people at its customer service centre in Bury.

Now it plans to honour the region’s most talented writers and broadcasters. Photographers and journalists working on internet-based news sites will also be featured.

The latest set of awards will also see the introduction of a new category for entertainment writers. This reflects O2’s work in the area of arts and entertainment including its sponsorship of The O2 arena and the Live Nation Academies across the UK.

Ann McCracken, communications manager of 02 UK, said the awards would celebrate the important service provided by local and regional journalists.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to stage the awards. The event will honour individual writers and broadcasters as well as news teams who have worked together to bring their communities news and information that otherwise may have remained hidden,” she said.

“Journalists provide an integral service in keeping the community connected to the world around them. We have exactly the same objective here at 02 – we believe a connected community is a better community.”

The full list of categories is:

Reporter of the Year

Feature Writer of the Year

Digital Journalist of the Year

Television Broadcast Journalist of the Year

Radio Broadcast Journalist of the Year

Sports Journalist of the Year

Young Journalist of the Year – Weeklies

Young Journalist of the Year – Dailies

Photographer of the Year

Scoop of the Year

Newspaper of the Year

Editiorial Team of the Year

Business Journalist of The Year

Entertainment Writer of The Year

A judging panel of media industry experts from the print, broadcast and digital sectors will select the finalists and the winners will be crowned at a presentation evening in central Manchester.

Entry forms are available by contacting Chloe Ingham at Rossiter Media on 01925 576757 or by e-mail [email protected]. Deadline for entry nominations is 31 March 2009.