It’s a clash of the cities in this year’s O2 North West Media Awards.
Journalists from Manchester, Liverpool and Carlisle all feature strongly in the line up of trophy nominees.
The Liverpool Echo and Daily Post have 11 nominations across the 16 award categories. The Manchester Evening News team and writers from the Cumberland News and News and Star are both up for five titles.
The North West Evening Mail, Granada Reports and BBC radio and television also scored highly, each earning three nominations.
Radio, television and print journalists are pitched together in the Sports Reporter and Editorial Team of the Year categories.
Smaller editorial teams also caught the judges’ eyes. The Saddleworth Independent will go head to head with Granada Reports, Key 103 and The Evening Leader for the Team of the Year prize. The Chorley and Leyland Guardian and Southport Champion are also in line for awards.
In the fight for Weekly Newspaper of the Year the Cumberland News is defending the title it won last year against the Warrington Guardian, Chester Chronicle, Crosby Herald and Rossendale Free Press.
Last year’s Daily Newspaper of the Year, the Liverpool Echo, is also through to the finals where it will face competition from the Bolton News and its sister paper the Lancashire Telegraph plus the Lancashire Evening Post.
The winners will be announced at the 2011 awards ceremony on November 3 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
In the Young Journalist of the Year daily category Miranda Newey of the Bolton News takes on three other nominees, Katie Robinson, David Pickthall and Will Metcalfe, all from the North West Evening Mail.
In the Weekly Young Journalist category former double award winner Natalie Banks has made the final alongside Ellie Cullen of the Crewe Chronicle. Tom Bristow of the Southport Visiter and Matthew Hobbs of the Warrington Guardian also make the line up.
As well as the 15 individual awards, O2 will also honour a media professional who has warranted the praise and admiration of colleagues through an Outstanding Contribution Award.
Glenn Manoff, Director of Communications, Reputation and Sustainability for O2, said the awards ‘ now in their fourth year ‘ were going from strength to strength.
‘Once again the contest has attracted a record number of entries and has been supported by publishers and broadcasters large and small across the North West. The regional press performs a wonderful role in our communities and we are delighted to recognise the contribution journalists make,’ he added.
The judging panel was made up of working editors and senior news executives including: Peter Charlton of the Yorkshire Post, Paul Napier of the Yorkshire Evening Post, Helen Carter of The Guardian, Paul Byrne of The Daily Mirror, Richard Catlow regional chair Society of Editors, Professor Peter Cole, head of journalism studies at Sheffield University, Steve Hothersall of Radio City, Duncan Wood from ITV Yorkshire, Angela Powers from Sky TV, Mike Woodcock from BBC Radio Sheffield, Nicola Megson of the Derbyshire Times Group, Chris Leggett of the Wolverhampton Express and Star and Tony Johnstone of the Press Association.
O2 is one of the largest single site employers in the North West with a string of retail stores and major customer service centres in Preston Brook, Cheshire and Bury, Greater Manchester .The company launched the awards in Cheshire four years ago. Since then the competition has grown to regional awards also covering Yorkshire.
ENDS
List of nominees:
Young Journalist of the Year (Weekly Newspapers)
Ellie Cullen ‘ Crewe Chronicle
Natalie Banks ‘ Chorley and Leyland Guardian
Tom Bristow ‘ Southport Visiter
Matthew Hobbs ‘ Warrington Guardian
Young Journalist of the Year (Daily Newspapers)
Will Metcalfe ‘ North West Evening Mail
David Pickthall ‘ North West Evening Mail
Katie Robinson ‘ North West Evening Mail
Miranda Newey ‘ Bolton News
Scoop of the Year
Southport Champion
Lancashire Evening Post
Liverpool Echo
Radio Broadcast Journalist of the Year
Jimmy McCracken – BBC Radio Merseyside
Janine Bolton ‘ Rock FM
Michelle Ponting ‘ Key 103
Digital Journalist of the Year
Liverpool Echo – Jo Kelly
Granada Reports – Adam McClean
Liverpool Echo ‘ Dan Kay
Manchester Evening News ‘ Peter Bainbridge
TV Broadcast Journalist of the Year
Matt O’Donoghue- Granada Reports
Andy Gill – BBC North West Tonight
Jacey Normand – BBC Inside Out
Business Reporter of the Year
Alistair Houghton ‘ Daily Post and Echo
Peter Elson ‘ Daily Post and Echo
Shelina Begum ‘ Manchester Evening News
Adam Jupp ‘ Manchester Evening News
Feature Writer of the Year
Alistair Houghton ‘ Daily Post and Echo
Paddy Shennan ‘ Liverpool Echo
Roger Lytollis ‘ Cumberland News
Sarah Newstead ‘ Cumberland News
Photographer of the Year:
Colin Lane ‘ Daily Post and Echo
Paul Heyes ‘ Manchester Evening News
Sean Hansford ‘ Manchester Evening News/Rochdale Observer
Vincent Cole ‘ Manchester Evening News/Rochdale Observer
Sports Reporter of the Year
Chris Hall ‘ Granada Reports
Jon Colman ‘ Cumberland News
Kelly O’Donnell ‘ Tower FM/Wish FM
Amanda Little ‘ Cumberland News
News Reporter of the Year:
Liza Williams ‘ Daily Post and Echo
Ben Rossington ‘ Liverpool Echo
Neal Keeling ‘ Manchester Evening News
Vanessa Cornall ‘ Lancashire Telegraph
Editorial Team of the Year:
Saddleworth Independent
Evening Leader (Chester/Wrexham)
Key 103
Granada Reports
Weekly Newspaper of the Year
Warrington Guardian
Chester Chronicle
Cumberland News
Crosby Herald
Rossendale Free Press
Daily Newspaper of the Year
Lancashire Evening Post
Bolton News
Liverpool Echo
Lancashire Telegraph
For further information contact:
Mark Rossiter or Sarah Roberts at Rossiter Media
01925 576757 or 07976292464
Or
Ann McCracken at O2
07850 708009 or ann.mccracken@O2.com
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