The shortlist for the annual Scottish Magazine Awards has now been revealed.

Magazines produced by the Herald and Times Group in Glasgow, The Times and The Big Issue are among those shortlisted.

The awards, which are organised by the Periodical Publishers Association, will be handed out in Edinburgh on 26 November.

Visit ppa.co.uk to read the full shortlist.

The United Kingdom enjoys the same levels of press freedom as both America and Luxembourg.

The annual poll by French group Reporters Without Borders shows that levels of media freedom are on the up as the UK has risen from 23rd to 20th in this year’s survey.

Scandinavia appears to be the place to work though as sharing top spot in this year’s poll are Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden along with Ireland.

The only non-European countries above the UK in the list are New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Canada. Read more about it on rsf.org.

The British College of Journalism has launched an online only course for freelancers.

The distance learning course can be studied either full or part-time over 12 or 24 weeks respectively.

The next course starts on 16 November – details can be found on britishcollegeofjournalism.com.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has produced a new database of reporters either murdered or killed during the course of their work since 1992.

The 758 deaths are searchable by country or year, with the UK featuring just three.

Iraq is listed as the deadliest country with 140 deaths – visit cpj.org/killed for more information.

The Birmingham Mail 2010 charity calendar is out and this year features a plethora of cute animals.

The pics are all taken by Mail photographers and proceeds from the sale will go towards the Birmingham Mail Charity Trust which gives grants to local good causes.

Calendars cost £4.99 plus p&p – details and an order form can be found on Mail editor Steve Dyson’s blog.