The Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo were among the big winners as parent company Reach scooped eleven prizes at Regional Press Awards.

The Echo was named Large News Brand of the Year while the MEN’s won the coveted Scoop of the Year category for its coverage of the death of a toddler due to mould in his family’s flat – a story that went on to make national headlines.

Other Reach successes saw Will Hayward of Wales Online named Daily Reporter of the Year,  while the MEN’s Beth Abbitt was named Feature Writer of the Year.

And Reach’s Newcastle daily The Chronicle walked off with the Front Page of the Year prize – sponsored by HoldtheFrontPage – for its coverage of Newcastle United’s sale to a Saudi consortium.

 

Reach also shared the Sports Journalist of the Year prize with fellow rellow regional publishing giant Newsquest, as the MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst and the Southern Daily Echo’s Benjy Nurick were named joint winners.

And Campaign of the Year went to the Bimingham Mail/Birmingham Live for its crusade to ‘Boot Rogue Landlords out of Birmingham.’

There were two further awards for Newsquest – Supplement of the Year for the Warrington Guardian’s retrospective on the Covid-19 pandemic, and Weekly Reporter of the Year, which went to Charles Thomson who previously won the award in 2018.

The other awards were shared between Belfast Telegraph publisher Mediahuis, which won two prizes, and National World, Iliffe Media and DC Thomson with one each.

Iliffe’s Kentish Gazette was named Small News Brand of the Year, while DC Thomson’s Press & Journal won Digital Initiative of the Year for its Highland League Weekly feature.

Photographer of the Year was James Hardisty, of National World’s Yorkshire Post, while the Bel Tel was named News Website of the Year.

The awards were handed out at a ceremony at London’s Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel attended by more than 130 shortlisted contenders and other guests.

The full list of winners and highly commendeds is below.  What the judges said about each winner can be seen here while the full shortlists can be seen here.

Daily Reporter of the Year

Winner: Will Hayward, WalesOnline
Highly Commended: Dale Haslam, DC Thomson

Weekly Reporter of the Year

Winner: Charles Thomson, Newsquest

Designer of the Year

Winner: Raymond Esteban, Belfast Telegraph
Highly Commended: Ian Bond, Hull Daily Mail

Photographer of the Year

Winner: James Hardisty, Yorkshire Post Newspapers
Highly Commended: Mark Williamson, Stratford-upon-Avon Herald,
Keith Heppell, Cambridge Independent

Columnist of the Year

Winner: Phil Wisdom, Devon and Cornwall Media

Feature Writer of the Year

Winner: Beth Abbitt, Manchester Evening News

Sports Journalist of the Year

Winners: Benjy Nurick, Southern Daily Echo, and Samuel Luckhurst, Manchester Evening News
Highly Commended: Katie Sands, Wales Online

Specialist Journalist of the Year

Winner: Allison Morris, Belfast Telegraph
Highly Commended: Liam Thorp, Liverpool Echo, Martyn McLaughlin, Scotland on Sunday

Cathryn Nicoll Award

Winner: Oliver Pridmore, Nottinghamshire Live

Young Journalist of the Year

Winner: Ffion Lewis, Media Wales
Highly Commended: Jasmine Norden, Yorkshire Live

Supplement of the Year

Winner: Warrington Guardian
Highly Commended: Belfast Telegraph Weekend Magazine,
Altrincham Today

Campaign of the Year

Winner: Birmingham Live & Mail – Project Name: Boot Rogue Landlords out of Birmingham
Highly Commended: Cumberland & Westmorland Herald and Keswick Reminder – Help us to help Hospice at Home

Scoop of the Year

Winner: Manchester Evening News – Child’s death linked to damp council flat
Highly Commended: Basingstoke Gazette – Sacked police officer named after newspaper’s High Court challenge,
The Northern Echo – Someone else is buried in dad’s grave

Digital Initiative of the Year

Winner: The Press and Journal – Highland League Weekly

Reporting Communities Award

Winner: BirminghamLive/Birmingham Mail
Highly Commended: WalesOnline, BirminghamLive/Birmingham Mail

News Website of the Year

Winner: Belfast Telegraph
Highly Commended: Manchester Evening News, Wales Online

Front Page of the Year

Winner: The Chronicle, Newcastle
Highly Commended: The Herald, Glasgow

Small News Brand of the Year

Winner: Kentish Gazette
Highly Commended: Cambridge Independent, The Impartial Reporter

Large News Brand of the Year

Winner: Liverpool Echo
Highly Commended: KentOnline, Belfast Telegraph