A regional daily has won a number of top industry honours after undergoing a “radical shake-up” of its newsroom.

The Aberdeen Press & Journal scooped the Newspaper of the Year crown at the 43rd Scottish Press Awards last night, with judges praisings the paper for “consistently delivering relevant, quality content”.

The Press & Journal’s victory came after its publisher DC Thomson launched the ‘Apollo’ programme, which created specialist mini publishing teams covering specific topics and increased emphasis on the use of tools including video, live broadcasting, programme making and audio production.

The P&J also won Local/Weekly Campaign of the Year for its ‘Beach Clean’ initiative, while several journalists from the paper also triumphed across a number of categories.

Neil Drysdale was named Local/Weekly Feature Writer of the Year, Sean O’Neil won Local/Weekly Reporter of the Year and Catherine Deveney was Columnist of the Year.

The P&J’s DC Thomson sister title the Sunday Post was also unanimously chosen as the Sunday Newspaper of the Year winner for its “hard-hitting exclusives and impactful journalism”, while Post journalist Marion Scott was also named Reporter of the Year and won the Nicola Barry Award.

The Ayrshire Post was named the Weekly Newspaper of the Year for its “strong campaigning instinct and unique content” and Front Page of the Year went to the Wishaw Press.

Other individual award winners included Political Journalist of the Year Hannah Rodger, of Glasgow-based daily the Herald, the Daily Record’s Annie Brown, who won awarded Scoop of the Year, and Norman Silvester, an industry veteran of more than 40 years, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

A total of 33 prizes were handed down during the ceremony, organised by the Scottish Newspaper Society, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central.

Chair of judges Denise West said: “In another year of pressure for independent news publishing, rhe Press & Journal was ambitious in tackling the challenges head on, radically shaking up the way its newsroom operated, and strengthening the relevance and quality of its editorial content.

“The Sunday Post has continued to evolve in both tone and content whilst remaining ever true to its original roots as a family newspaper.

“Every week the title delivers a formidable package of hard-hitting exclusives, campaigning vigour, engaging features and confident news coverage.”

Scottish Newspaper Society Director John McLellan added: “Because of the unpredictability, 2021 was in many ways as difficult as 2020, but the speed with which journalists and publishers adapted to pandemic conditions ensured they were in good shape to meet the challenges.

“The measures we took in conjunction with government action ensured that titles emerged relatively intact and able to continue serving readers with trusted, reliable news and information.

“Although the commercial landscape remains challenging to say the least, it is encouraging to see so many high-quality entries and the enthusiasm on display at our annual celebration is testament to the sector’s continued resilience.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

Student of the Year
Daniella Theis – Strathclyde Telegraph

Political Journalist of the Year
Hannah Rodger – The Herald

Young Journalist of the Year
Beth Murray – The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Evening News

Financial Business Journalist of the Year
Brian Donnelly – The Herald

Interviewer of the Year
Teddy Jamieson – The Herald

Feature Writer of the Year
Neil Mackay – The Herald, Herald on Sunday

Food and Drink Writer of the Year
Joanna Blythman – The Herald

Travel Writer of the Year
Jeremy Lazell – The Times Scotland

Sports Columnist of the Year
Gary Keown – Scottish Mail on Sunday

Sports Feature Writer of the Year
Rob Robertson – Scottish Daily Mail

Sports News Writer of the Year
Heather Dewar – Scottish Daily Mail

Nicola Barry Award
Marion Scott – Sunday Post

Arts and Entertainment Journalist of the Year
Teddy Jamieson – The Herald Magazine

Specialist Reporter of the Year
Helen McArdle – The Herald

Podcast of the Year
The Stooshie

Columnist of the Year
Catherine Deveney – Press and Journal

Sports Photographer of the Year
Andrew Milligan – PA Media

News Photographer of the Year
Jeff Mitchell – Getty Images

Best Coverage of a Live Event
Gillian Loney – Glasgow Live for the Kenmure Street Protests

News Website of the Year
The Courier.co.uk

Local/Weekly Feature Writer of the Year
Neil Drysdale – Press & Journal

Local/Weekly Reporter of the Year
Sean O’Neil – Press & Journal, The Courier

Local/Weekly Campaign of the Year
Press & Journal – Beach Clean

Weekly Newspaper of the Year
Ayrshire Post

Scoop of the Year
Annie Brown – Daily Record

Front Page of the Year
Wishaw Press

Journalism Team of the Year
The Ferret with The Herald – Who Runs Scotland

Campaign of the Year
Sunday Mail – Anne’s Law

Reporter of the Year
Marion Scott – Sunday Post

Lifetime Achievement Award
Norman Silvester

Journalist of the Year
Heather Dewar – Scottish Daily Mail

Daily Newspaper of the Year
Press & Journal

Sunday Newspaper of the Year
The Sunday Post

Chairperson’s Award
The Scottish Daily Mail