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Top honours for Yorkshire Post as Regional Press Awards winners announced

The Yorkshire Post emerged as the big winner of this year’s Regional Press Awards with four top prizes including Daily Newspaper of the Year.

With the results announced online at noon today in place of the usual gala lunch, the Leeds-based daily was named best daily newspaper with a monthly reach of more than 400,000 while its Tour de Yorkshire magazine was named Supplement of the Year.

Post journalist Greg Wright was named Business and Finance Journalist of the Year while photographer Simon Hulme won the Daily Photographer of the Year prize.

The award comes after the Post was named the ‘most trusted newspaper’ in Britain by industry audience measurement company PAMCo.

The judges said in their citation: “The Yorkshire Post proves time and time again why it deserves that accolade. Brilliant and incisive journalism that isn’t afraid to ask the awkward questions – and get the answers. Quite brilliant.”

In a tweet following the announcement, Post editor James Mitchinson said: “As well as being a victory for the team I’m privileged to lead, this is a victory for trusted, quality journalism.”

There were also three awards for the Western Mail including Daily Newspaper of the Year for titles with a monthly reach of less than 400,000, best daily columnist for Carolyn Hitt and best feature writer for Amanda Powell.

And the Camden New Journal, Liverpool Echo, Irish News, Nottingham Post and Belfast Telegraph each came away with a brace of awards.

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From a field of almost 700 entries, the winners and highly commended entrants were announced in a special video event which replaced the gala awards lunch cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis.

The awards, designed to recognise excellence throughout the regional and local print and online media, were organised by the Society of Editors and supported by the Facebook Journalism Project and a host of other sponsors including HoldtheFrontPage.

In other major prizes, Hull Live was named best website, while the Bucks Free Press, Farnham Herald and Islington Tribune were named weekly newspapers of the year.

The Birmingham Mail was chosen as joint winner for daily newspaper Campaign of the Year for its focus on the Birmingham Pub Bombings, along with the Power up the North campaign carried jointly by Newsquest, Reach and JPIMedia titles.

Reporters of the year were the Impartial Reporter’s Rodney Edwards in the weekly category while The Scotsman’s Martyn McLoughlin won the daily award.

And the prizes for the best daily and weekly front pages, sponsored for the first time this year by HoldtheFrontPage, went to the Cambridge News and the Herald on Sunday.

In a video message of support, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden MP paid tribute to all who work in the regional press, saying:  “Local and regional press have a unique role to play both in holding local politicians to account and in building a sense of community.”

The Secretary of State added that he found questions asked by local journalists at the regular Coronavirus government briefings among the trickiest to deal with as they came from reporters close to their communities.

Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors commented: “Even though the awards have been affected by the Coronavirus emergency and we were unable to stage the gala lunch we were determined all the fantastic work carried out by the regional and local press did not go unrecognised.

“Anyone looking at the breadth and scale of the entries for this year’s awards will recognise the tremendous and vital role the sector plays in our nation.”

If you missed the video announcements, you can catch up on the whole awards ceremony online here.

The full list of winners is below.

Journalists’ Charity Award

Winner: Dan Carrier, Camden New Journal

Young Journalist of the Year – sponsored by Amazon Prime Video

Winner: Jessie Mathewson, East London Guardian
Winner: Jack Dyson, Kentish Gazette
Highly Commended: Marcus Hughes, WalesOnline

Specialist Writer/Impact Journalist of the Year

Winner: Liam Thorp, Liverpool Echo
Highly Commended: Ciaran Barnes, Sunday Life

Feature Writer/Long Form Journalist of the Year

Winner: Amanda Powell, The Western Mail
Highly Commended: Joe Thomas, Liverpool Echo

Business & Finance Journalist of the Year

Winner: Greg Wright, The Yorkshire Post
Highly Commended: Robin Johnson, Derby Telegraph
Highly Commended: Margaret Canning, Belfast Telegraph

Columnist of the Year – Daily Paper

Winner: Carolyn Hitt, The Western Mail
Winner: Allison Morris, The Irish News
Highly Commended: Catriona Stewart, The Herald

Columnist of the Year – Weekly Paper

Winner: Peter Grant, Wirral Globe
Highly Commended: Mike Kelly, Sunday Sun

Sports Journalist of the Year – Daily Paper

Winner: Neil Allen, The News, Portsmouth
Highly Commended: Paul Abbandonato, WalesOnline

Sports Journalist of the Year – Weekly/ Sunday Paper

Winner: Paul Ferguson, Sunday Life
Highly Commended: Mark Taylor, Cambridge Independent

Data Journalist of the Year

Winner: Harriet Clugston, RADAR AI
Winner: Aimee Stanton, JPI Media
Highly Commended: Annie Gouk, Reach Data Unit

Social Media Journalist of the Year

Winner: Daniel Russell, The Nottingham Post and Nottinghamshire Live
Highly Commended: Will Hayward, WalesOnline

Digital Live News Reporter of the Year

Winner: Kristian Johnson, LeedsLive
Highly Commended: Neil Docking, Liverpool Echo
Highly Commended: Cathy Owen, Media Wales

Digital Live Sports Reporter of the Year

Winner: Gareth Hanna, Belfast Telegraph
Highly Commended: Beren Cross, LeedsLive

Reporting Communities Award

Winner: Rakeem Omar Hyatt, BirminghamLive
Winner: Kathryn Williams, WalesOnline
Highly Commended: Will Hayward, WalesOnline

The Cathryn Nicoll Award – in conjunction with the NMA

Winner: Joseph Locker, The Nottingham Post & Nottinghamshire Live

Weekly/Sunday Reporter of the Year – sponsored by Luther Pendragon

Winner: Rodney Edwards, The Impartial Reporter
Highly Commended: Charles Thomson, Yellow Advertiser

Daily Reporter of the Year – sponsored by Luther Pendragon

Winner: Martyn McLaughlin, The Scotsman
Highly Commended: Liam Thorp, Liverpool Echo
Highly Commended: Kelly Williams, Daily Post

Weekly/Sunday Photographer of the Year – sponsored by PA Media

Winner: Stuart Walker, The Cumberland News
Highly Commended: Mark Williamson, Stratford-upon-Avon Herald

Daily Photographer of the Year – sponsored by PA Media

Winner: Simon Hulme, The Yorkshire Post
Highly Commended: James Hardisty, The Yorkshire Post/Yorkshire Evening Post

Designer of the Year – Newspaper

Winner: Debbie Rodman, Bury Free Press
Highly Commended: Simon Hill, Express & Star

Designer of the Year – Magazines/Supplement

Winner: David Lewins, Bristol Post: Weekend Magazine
Highly Commended: Clarke Cooper, The Press and Journal

Supplement of the Year

Winner: TdY Magazine, The Yorkshire Post
Highly Commended: Back Where We Belong, Express & Star

Magazine of the Year

Winner: ecoJersey, Jersey Evening Post
Highly Commended: Life, Jewish News

Front Page of the Year – Daily Paper, sponsored by HoldtheFrontPage

Winner: They tried to make the world a better place, Cambridge News
Highly Commended: La Tragedie de Notre Dame, The Scotsman

Front Page of the Year – Weekly Paper, sponsored by HoldtheFrontPage

Winner: ‘Choose something’, The Herald on Sunday
Highly Commended: Shameless/ Killed for the Cameras, Sunday Life

Scoop of the Year – sponsored by Cision

Winner: Senior teacher bombarded pupil, 15 with flirty messages, Daily Post
Highly Commended: Evil Eyes, Sunday Life

Campaign of the Year – Daily Paper

Winner: Power up the North campaign, across Reach Plc, JPI Media & Newsquest titles
Winner: Birmingham Pub Bombing Inquest Campaign, Birmingham Mail

Campaign of the Year – Weekly/Sunday Paper

Winner: Save Kentish Town City Farm, Camden New Journal
Winner: Paedophile Police Informant campaign, Yellow Advertiser
Highly Commended: Save Reading Gaol, Reading Chronicle

Website of the Year – sponsored by Google News Initiative

Winner: HullLive, Hull Daily Mail
Highly Commended: Irishnews.com, The Irish News
Highly Commended: manchestereveningnews.co.uk, Manchester Evening News

Social Media Team of the Year – sponsored by Facebook Journalism Project

Winner: ChronicleLive
Highly Commended: WalesOnline

Digital Initiative of the Year – sponsored by Facebook Journalism Project

Winner: Brexit Voices from Northern Ireland, Belfast Telegraph
Highly Commended: Shaped by a River: Tales of the Tay, The Courier

The Overall Digital Award– sponsored by Facebook Journalism Project

Winner: liverpoolecho.co.uk, Liverpool Echo
Highly Commended: KentOnline, IM News

Innovation & Initiative of the Year – sponsored by Facebook Journalism Project

Winner: Statement, The Irish News
Highly Commended: Radar AI | Local News Wire, RADAR AI

Free Weekly Newspaper of the Year – sponsored by Camelot

Winner: Islington Tribune
Highly Commended: Slough & Windsor Express

Paid for Weekly/Sunday Newspaper of the Year Above 50,000 Monthly Reach – sponsored
by Camelot

Winner: Bucks Free Press
Highly Commended: Newbury Weekly News

Paid for Weekly/Sunday Newspaper of the Year Below 50,000 Monthly Reach – sponsored
by Camelot

Winner: Farnham Herald
Highly Commended: The Impartial Reporter

Daily Newspaper of the Year Above 400,000 Monthly Reach – sponsored by Camelot

Winner: The Yorkshire Post
Highly Commended: Express & Star

Daily Newspaper of the Year Below 400,000 Monthly Reach – sponsored by Camelot

Winner: Western Mail
Highly Commended: Yorkshire Evening Post