The shortlists have been published for this year’s Scottish Press Awards with more than 100 in contention for the 26 prizes.

Judges received a flood of entries for the 45th edition of the awards which are overseen by Newsbrands Scotland, formerly the Scottish Newspaper Society.

The awards recognise journalistic excellence across all platforms and include the Scottish editions of UK-wide titles as well as purely national and regional publications.

The awards will be handed out at a ceremony and dinner to take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central on 29 May 2024.

The judging panel was led by Richard Neville, former  head of news brands at DC Thomson, and current director of Neville Robertson Communications.

Said Richard: “It has been fantastic to see the quality of entries to this year’s awards. The talent in this industry stretches right across the spectrum of digital and print publishing and across every region of the country.

“The need for incisive, challenging journalism grows every year and Scotland’s journalists have risen to the task in the past 12 months.

“Telling good stories will always be at the heart of what the industry does but holding the rich, powerful, and opportunistic chancers to account is of equal importance. It is clear from this year’s shortlist that Scotland is not a place to come to avoid scrutiny.”

The full shortlist is as follows:

Arts and Entertainment Journalist of the Year

Matt Bendoris The Scottish Sun
Janet Christie The Scotsman
Teddy Jamieson The Herald/Herald on Sunday
Neil Mackay The Herald/Herald on Sunday
Mike Wade The Sunday Times Scotland

Best Coverage of a Live Event

The Courier Newsroom The Courier (Storm Babet)
The Herald Team The Herald (Honours of Scotland)
The National The National (by-Election Results)
The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday (Coronation)
The Scottish Sun The Scottish Sun (Sturgeon House Raid)
The Scottish Sun The Scottish Sun (Storm Babet)

Campaign of the Year

The Courier Eljamel Inquiry
The Glasgow Times Don’t Fear the Smear
The Inverness Courier Dual the A9
The Scottish Sun Sort the School Debt
The Sunday Post Forced Adoption

Columnist of the Year sponsored by Edrington

Gabriella Bennett The Times Scotland
Stephen Daisley Scottish Daily Mail
John MacLeod Scottish Daily Mail
Euan McColm Scotland on Sunday
Kevin McKenna The Herald
Mandy Rhodes Holyrood

Feature Writer sponsored by The Glenmorangie Company

Janet Christie The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday
Emma Cowing Scottish Daily Mail
Teddy Jamieson The Herald Magazine
Magnus Linklater The Times Scotland
Neil Mackay The Herald/Herald on Sunday
Gayle Ritchie The Courier

Financial/Business Journalist of the Year sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland

Greig Cameron The Times/Sunday Times
Martyn McLaughlin The Scotsman
Emma Newlands The Scotsman
Martin Williams The Herald/Herald on Sunday
Scott Wright The Herald

Food and Drink Writer of the Year sponsored by Diageo

Rosalind Erskine The Scotsman
Ron McKenna The Herald
Chitra Ramaswamy The Times Scotland
Peter Ranscombe Decanter
Catriona Thomson Scottish Field / Edinburgh Inquirer

Front Page of the Year

Scottish Daily Mail
Scottish Mail on Sunday
The Courier
The Inverness Courier
The Scotsman
The Sunday National

Journalism Team of the Year sponsored by Amazon

Scottish Daily Mail – iPad Gate
The Courier – Eljamel
The Ferret – Scotland’s Secret Owners
The Herald – Banksy
The Scottish Sun – SNP Police Investigation

News Photographer of the Year sponsored by VisitScotland

Jane Barlow Press Association
Wattie Cheung Freelance
Colin Mearns Herald and Times Group
Andrew Milligan PA Media
Jeff Mitchell Getty Images

Nicola Barry Award sponsored by Women in Journalism Scotland

Heather Dewar Scottish Daily Mail
Karin Goodwin The Ferret
Helen Puttick The Times Scotland/Sunday Times Scotland
Marion Scott The Sunday Post
Margaret Taylor Holyrood

Podcast of the Year

A Murder Without End Tomorrow.is
Murder in the Granite City The Scottish Sun
Scran The Scotsman
Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry The Ferret
The Stooshie The Courier

Political Journalist of the Year sponsored by Law Society of Scotland

Kieran Andrews The Times Scotland
Michael Blackley Scottish Daily Mail
David Bol The Herald
Georgia Edkins Scottish Mail on Sunday
Andrew Learmonth The Herald

Regional Journalist of the Year sponsored by Registers of Scotland

Justin Bowie The Courier
Alasdair Clark The Courier
Dale Haslam Press and Journal
Amanda Keenan The Glasgow Times
Bryan Rutherford Press and Journal

Reporter of the Year sponsored by Openreach

Georgia Edkins Scottish Mail on Sunday
Graham Grant Scottish Daily Mail
Graham Mann The Scottish Sun
David Pratt The Herald on Sunday/Sunday National
Marion Scott The Sunday Post
Martin Williams The Herald/The Herald on Sunday

Scoop of the Year sponsored by SNS

Georgia Edkins Scottish Mail on Sunday
Michael Blackley Scottish Daily Mail
Neil Mackay The Herald/The Herald on Sunday
Graham Mann The Scottish Sun
Martin Williams The Herald

Specialist Reporter of the Year

Vicky Allan The Herald
Graham Grant Scottish Daily Mail
Martyn McLaughlin The Scotsman
Cheryl Peebles The Courier
Calum Ross The Scotsman

Sports Columnist of the Year

Heather Dewar Scottish Daily Mail
Michael Grant The Times Scotland
Gary Keown Scottish Mail on Sunday
Bill Leckie The Scottish Sun
Aidan Smith The Scotsman

Sports Feature Writer of the Year

Heather Dewar Scottish Daily Mail
Susan Egelstaff The Herald
Michael Grant The Times Scotland
Hugh MacDonald Scottish Daily Mail
Alan Pattullo The Scotsman

Sports News Writer of the Year

Craig Christie Northern Scot/Huntly Express
Heather Dewar Scottish Daily Mail
Robert Grieve The Scottish Sun
Graeme McGarry The Herald
Stephen McGowan Scottish Daily Mail

Sports Photographer of the Year

James Gunn Freelance North of Scotland Newspapers
Ian MacNicol Getty Images
Colin Mearns Herald and Times Group
Mark Scates SNS Group
Gordon Terris Herald/Sunday Herald/National
Allan Wilson East Lothian Courier/Border Telegraph/Peeblesshire News.

Weekly Journalist of the Year

Alan Hendry John O’Groat Journal/Caithness Courier
Scott Maclennan The Inverness Courier
Lewis McBlane Northern Scot/Huntly Express/Banffshire Herald
Tristan Stewart-Robertson Helensburgh Advertiser/Clydebank Post
Ava Whyte Clydebank Post

Weekly Newsbrand of the Year sponsored by Caledonian MacBrayne
Shortlist to be announced early May

Young Journalist of the Year sponsored by Muckle Media

Chris Faulds Alloa and Hillfoots Advertiser
Ethan Flett The Orcadian
Ruaraidh Gilmour Holyrood
Ema Sabljak The Courier
Emma Taggart The Times Scotland

Shortlists for the sought-after Scottish Newsbrand of the Year, Journalist of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement Award have not been revealed as winners will be announced on the night of the ceremony.