It was a triumphant evening for Georgia Edkins who won Journalist of the Year, having scooped Reporter of the Year, Political Journalist of the Year and Scoop of the Year throughout the evening. Judges praised her “intuition, determination, and good old-fashioned door-knocking” while reporting on some of the last year’s most high-profile stories including Operation Branchform.
Scottish Daily Mail scooped the Newsbrand of the Year Award for the second year in a row for consistently leading the way on most of the major stories of the year, breaking several of them, to deliver hard hitting exclusives and impactful journalism. The Inverness Courier was chosen as the Weekly Newsbrand of the Year, praised by the judges for being a modern and ambitious local newsbrand that invests its resources in the community and champions its readers.
Marion Scott of The Sunday Post, Jane Barlow of Press Association and Chitra Ramaswamy from The Times Scotland celebrated retaining their titles for the second year in a row as the recipients of the Nicola Barry Award, News Photographer of the Year and Food and Drink Writer of the Year.
The Courier was recognised for its impactful investigative journalism, winning Campaign of the Year for the Eljamel Inquiry. Cheryl Peebles received the award for Specialist Reporter of the Year, reflecting the paper's commitment to specialised and investigative reporting.
Other big winners were the team at The Scottish Sun, who showcased their strength in both live event coverage and multimedia journalism. They won Best Coverage of a Live Event for their reporting on the Sturgeon House Raid and took home the Podcast of the Year award for "Murder in the Granite City". They were also awarded Journalism Team of the Year for their work on the SNP Police Investigation.
A total of 28 awards crediting the vital work of print and digital journalism were announced in celebration of the finest journalism in Scotland, say the organisers.
Chair of Judges, Richard Neville, former Head of News Brands at DC Thomson and current Director of Neville Robertson Communications, said: “This year's awards highlight the exceptional caliber of journalism in Scotland. The winners have demonstrated remarkable dedication, skill, and integrity in their work, and their contributions are vital to our society.”
Richard Neville was joined by 40 independent judges from across the Scottish media, communications and public affairs industries. Former BBC Scotland newsreader Jackie Bird hosted the event at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central.
The 45th Scottish Press Awards were sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, Diageo, VisitScotland, Edrington, Openreach, Glenmorangie, The Law Society of Scotland, Caledonian MacBrayne, Registers of Scotland, Muckle Media, Women in Journalism Scotland, BIG Partnership, Weber Shandwick, Event Consultants Scotland and Newsbrands Scotland.
Newsbrands Scotland director John McLellan said: “We are very grateful for the support of all our sponsors, for the dedication of all our judges, and for the enthusiastic support of the awards from journalists across Scotland. And once again I’d like to thank our event coordinator Susan Mathieson, without whom the whole scheme would not be the success it is.”
The winners:
YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Ethan Flett – The Orcadian
FINANCIAL/BUSINESS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Greig Cameron – The Times Scotland/Sunday Times
POLITICAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Georgia Edkins – Scottish Mail on Sunday
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Janet Christie – The Scotsman
FOOD AND DRINK WRITER OF THE YEAR
Chitra Ramaswamy – The Times Scotland
SPORTS FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Michael Grant – The Times Scotland
SPORTS NEWS WRITER OF THE YEAR
Heather Dewar – Scottish Daily Mail
SPORTS COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR
Aidan Smith – The Scotsman
FEATURE WRITER
Neil Mackay – The Herald/Herald on Sunday
SPECIALIST REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Cheryl Peebles – The Courier
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Jane Barlow – Press Association
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Ian MacNicol – Getty Images
BEST COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT
The Scottish Sun – Sturgeon House Raid
PODCAST OF THE YEAR
Murder in the Granite City – The Scottish Sun
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR
Mandy Rhodes – Holyrood Magazine
NICOLA BARRY AWARD
Marion Scott – The Sunday Post
WEEKLY JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Scott Maclennan – The Inverness Courier
REGIONAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Dale Haslam – Press and Journal
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
The Courier – Eljamel Inquiry
FRONT PAGE OF THE YEAR
Scottish Mail on Sunday
JOURNALISM TEAM OF THE YEAR
The Scottish Sun – SNP Police Investigation
REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Georgia Edkins – Scottish Mail on Sunday
SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Georgia Edkins – Scottish Mail on Sunday
WEEKLY NEWSBRAND OF THE YEAR
The Inverness Courier
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Ian Swanson
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Georgia Edkins – Scottish Mail on Sunday
CHAIRPERSON'S AWARD
Brendan McGinty and Jim Wilson
SCOTTISH NEWSBRAND OF THE YEAR
Scottish Daily Mail
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