Named Scottish Newsbrand of the Year at the 47th Scottish Press Awards ceremony last week, which celebrated some of the country’s best journalism, The Courier was praised for exposing the blunders at the heart of the Sandy Peggie tribunal judgement and becoming the leading source of information for hundreds of staff at crisis-hit Dundee University.
The Courier also secured the Journalism Team of the Year award for its reporting on the Sandy Peggie case, recognising the quality, authority and impact of its coverage of one of the year’s most talked-about stories.
“The Courier gives great voice to its readers and simply cannot be ignored,” said the judges. “It exposed the blunders at the heart of the Sandy Peggie tribunal judgement and became the number one source of information for hundreds of staff at crisis-ridden Dundee University.
“Ruffling feathers in a small city is not easy and requires bravery. The editor David Clegg put himself on the line by personally explaining the limitations on reporting the details behind a stabbing incident which shocked the community and became an international story.”
The judges also commended the Scottish Sun and the Daily Record for their excellent performances this year, and they were also hugely impressed by the number of short-listings achieved by The Herald.
The highly coveted Journalist of the Year award was presented to Graham Mann of The Scottish Sun, who completed a successful evening after earlier being named Reporter of the Year.
The Scottish Sun also celebrated success in the Front Page of the Year category, underlining another strong year for the title, while Daily Record journalists Paul Hutcheon and Mark McGivern secured Scoop of the Year for their standout investigative reporting. The Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald was also recognised for its impactful “Save our Harbour” initiative, taking home the Campaign of the Year award.
The notable Lifetime Achievement Award this year went to Hugh MacDonald in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Scottish journalism over many decades. A journalist at The Herald for over 40 years before moving to the Scottish Daily Mail around 10 years ago, Hugh is perhaps most famously known for his work following Andy Murray’s career. He is widely respected across the industry for his reporting, writing and commentary and has long been regarded as one of Scotland’s leading journalists.
The Orcadian was named Weekly Newsbrand of the Year with judges highlighting the strength of content, deep understanding of community needs and their achievements in driving change, initially led by the much-missed managing director Craig MacInnes, who died last year at the tragically young age of 44.
A total of 28 awards recognising the vital work of print and digital journalism were announced in celebration of the finest journalism in Scotland.
Chair of Judges, Richard Neville, former Head of News Brands at DC Thomson and current Director of Neville Robertson Communications, said: “These awards celebrate talent from across the whole of Scotland and showcase strength, determination and public value of journalism at every level of our industry.
“From investigations and campaigning journalism to local reporting that keeps communities informed, tonight’s winners demonstrate the extraordinary quality of journalism being produced across Scotland.”
Richard Neville was joined by independent judges from across the Scottish media, communications and public affairs industries at the awards ceremony celebrating the best of Scottish journalism. Zara Janjua hosted the event at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Glasgow.
The full list of Scottish Press Awards winners can be found here.
The 47th Scottish Press Awards are sponsored by, Amazon, VisitScotland, Edrington, Royal Bank of Scotland, The Law Society of Scotland, Caledonian MacBrayne, Diageo, Weber Shandwick, Women in Journalism Scotland, Media House International, Event Consultants Scotland and Newsbrands Scotland.
Newsbrands Scotland director John McLellan said: “Many congratulations to our winners and finalists, and as ever, our sincere thanks go to all our sponsors and judges, but particularly to all our entrants for supporting the awards.
“My deepest thanks also go to our events organiser Susan Mathieson for staging another splendid ceremony and gala dinner and without whom the whole scheme simply wouldn’t happen.”
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