Hartlepool Mail staff took top honours in the North-East’s premier press awards held on Friday night.

Reporter Paul Watson was named North-East Reporter of the Year and also won the hard news prize at the 28th Tom Cordner North East Press Awards.

Altogether the Mail won three awards while rival dailies The Journal and The Northern Echo won two apiece.

There was no North-East Newspaper of the Year prize at this year’s slimmed-down ceremony, designed to celebrate indivdual rather than corporate achievement.

The ceremony took place at the Customs House Theatre in South Shields, with journalists receiving their awards on a stage made up for the Sleeping Beauty panto due to open this week.

Said one of the organisers: “It proved that while Baron Hardup seems to be in charge of some British papers, they are no Cinderellas in the North East.”

The full list of winners was:

North East Journalist of the Year: Paul Watson, Hartlepool Mail

Tom Cordner Quill for Trainee Journalist of the Year: Rob Pattinson, ncjMedia

Weekly Newspaper Journalist of the Year: Brian Tilley, Hexham Courant

Graeme Stanton Award: Lifetime contribution to Journalism in the North East: Clive Crickmer, retired Daily Mirror NE reporter

Jim Merrington Prize: Photographer of Year: Owen Humphreys, Press Association

Ian Weir Award: Picture of the Year: Owen Humphreys, Press Association

Maurice Brady Award – Hard News: Paul Watson, Hartlepool Mail

Mike Gilligan Prize: Magazine of Year: Business Quarter

Online Video News coverage: Gavin Havery, Northern Echo

Fred Hurrell Prize for features: David Whetstone, The Journal

Durhams Sporting Plate: John Gibson, Evening Chronicle

NE Prize for Health & Wellbeing coverage: Barry Nelson, Northern Echo

ABC Spike for overall page design: Babette Decker, The Journal

Splash Subbing Award & Tony Dumphy trophy: Keith McCaffery, Hartlepool Mail

Phillip Hickey Trophy: Columnist/Blogger of the Year: Dave Robson, Evening Gazette

Eric Dobson Scroll : Top NCE Marks in the region: James Entwistle, Darlington & Stockton Times

Comments

AJ (30/11/2009 15:03:28)
Can’t belive journalists enter these awards. There’s no presitige left in the industry anymore because of the way management treat us. Anyone who enters is endorsing the way we are all (miss) treated.

Northern Snapper (30/11/2009 15:50:02)
I share some of your cynicism AJ but I can understand why individuals enter awards. Firstly, there’s usually a cheque involved and secondly, a win looks good on a cv.

regionalhack (30/11/2009 22:40:22)
An award win can be an escape route to better things. At the very least, an employer should then realise they have good people working for them. But I agree that regional newspaper management generally utterly disregard, and under-pay, their journalists, a disgraceful situation they are content to maintain.