Contenders aiming to be crowned the best regional newspaper campaign of the past year have been unveiled.
A total of 32 different campaigns have been shortlisted ahead of a public vote during Local Newspaper Week, which takes place next month, as part of its ‘Making a Difference’ campaign.
Nominees include the Birmingham Mail’s campaign to highlight the issue of child sex exploitation in the West Midlands, the CN Group’s successful opposition to proposed £26m cuts to police funding in Cumbria, and the Oxford Mail’s drive to defend Freedom of Information laws from being watered down.
The Yorkshire Post’s campaign, Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic, which won the 2014 prize, has again been shortlisted.
The Mail’s campaign was launched in November with a special, pictured above, featuring 15 pages of coverage on FoI.
It followed the launch of the Society of Editors’ Hands Off FoI campaign in association with HoldtheFrontPage and Press Gazette.
On 16 May, the start of Local Newspaper Week this year, the vote will go live and members of the public will have three days to vote for their favourite campaign in an online poll.
The winner will be announced by News Media Association chairman Ashley Highfield at the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards on 20 May.
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Aberdeen Evening Express – Save the Bon Accord Baths
Archant Investigations United – Contaminated Blood Scandal
Birmingham Mail – Child Sex Exploitation in Birmingham
Birmingham Post – BBC Midlands investment
Bradford Telegraph & Argus – Stop the Danger Drivers
Camden New Journal – Pay Up Now
CN Group – Fight the Cuts
Cumberland News – Spirit of Cumbria
Derby Telegraph – Colin Bloomfield Melanoma Appeal
Dundee Courier – Frank’s Law
Dundee Evening Telegraph – Bald is Beautiful
Eastern Daily Press – Mental Health Watch
Express & Star, Wolverhampton – Ladder for the Black Country
Glamorgan Gazette – Yule Love Brigend
Hereford Times – One in Eight
Hull Daily Mail – Kids in Crisis
North Wales Daily Post – #savebetsibabies
North West Evening Mail – Healthy Young Minds
Oxford Mail – Lonely this Christmas
Oxford Mail – Public Defibrillators Campaign
Oxford Mail – FOI: Your Right To Know
Press & Journal, Aberdeen – Energy 2050
Press & Journal, Aberdeen – Apprentice 100
Salisbury Journal – Salisbury Airfield
South Wales Echo – Cardiff United Against Cancer
Southern Daily Echo – Dumped Dogs: Find the Culprit
Stourbridge News – Well of Life Appeal
Sunday Post – Who Cares?
The Argus, Brighton – Save our Centres
The Sentinel, Stoke – Our Big Read
Westmorland Gazette – Give Robbie Room
Yorkshire Post – Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic