The Hull Daily Mail was named Yorkshire and the Humber’s top daily newspaper at last night’s regional O2 Media Awards.
The paper also won the award for Editorial Team of the Year for its work producing a special edition, remembering those killed in World War Two bombing raids on Hull. The edition contained stories censored for publication during the war years and carried the names of the 1,241 people who died in the attacks.
Award judges described the Mail as “exciting… a newspaper that took risks and believed wholeheartedly in speaking out for the communities it served.”
Reporter Nicky Harley rounded off a hat trick for the paper picking up the News Reporter of the Year crown.
More than 150 journalists working across newspapers, television, radio and specialist publications attended this year’s awards ceremony at the Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds.
Sixteen awards were presented celebrating the work of the regional press in their communities.
The Rotherham Advertiser retained its title as the region’s top weekly with judges praising the editorial team’s consistent approach to news, sport and features and for delivering a comprehensive, value for money newspaper.
BBC Look North staffer Nicola Rees was named TV Journalist of the Year and was presented with her award by Falklands War veteran Neil Wilkinson, whose story featured among her winning portfolio.
Other VIPs included Emmerdale stars Fiona Wade and Bhasker Patel; former Home Secretary Jack Straw; world champion boxer Ryan Rhodes; pop fashion designer Kelly Ewing and Yorkshire representatives of the Normandy Veterans Association.
Cerebral Palsy victim Evan Whitton, the eight-year-old boy inspired to walk for the first time in his life by Great Britain’s Olympic team, presented the award for Sports Reporter of the Year to BBC Radio Sheffield’s Paul Walker.
Radio Journalist of the Year was awarded jointly to Radio Aire’s Claire Warren and BBC Radio Leeds’ Johnathan l’Anson. There was also a double award in the Feature Writer of the Year category which was shared by Stephen Lewis of the Press, York and Rod McPhee of the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Scoop of the Year went to Mark Whitty’s team at ITV Calendar for a series of reports which re-opened the investigation into the disappearance of Sheffield toddler Ben Needham, who went missing on the Greek island of Kos 20 years ago. Ben’s mother Kerry presented the team with their trophy.
Yorkshire Post reporter Greg Wright was named Business Journalist of the Year while his Post newsroom colleague Emily Heward took the title of Young Journalist of the Year.
Three new categories were introduced to this year’s awards. O2 Specialist Publication was won by the Leeds Student newspaper, who beat off challenges from the Yorkshire Post and Bradford Telegraph and Argus; Multi Media Journalist of the Year was won by the Sheffield Star’s Graham Walker while O2’s Emerging Talent Award – aimed at media students in colleges and universities across the Yorkshire and the Humber regions – was won by NCTJ press photography student Alex Whitehead.
The award for Outstanding Contribution to the Media Industry this year went to Cyril Skinner of the Bridlington Free Press who at 80 years old is believed to be Britain’s oldest sports reporter.
Journalists were also shown a film, created by young people as part of O2’s Think Big initiative, on teenagers’ perceptions of the media.
Nicola Green, head of Communications and Reputation for O2 UK, said: “Since the awards first launched in Yorkshire and the Humber four years ago we’ve seen the media industry go through huge changes but one thing has remained constant … the tremendous role that regional journalists perform in their communities.
“Whether they work in print, digital or broadcast mediums or increasingly these days across all of these spectrums, regional journalists continue to inform, entertain and protect the villages, towns and regions they serve,” she added.
Notes to Editors:
The full results for the O2 Yorkshire and the Humber 2012 Media Awards were as follows:
Multi Media Journalist of the Year
Winner:
Graham Walker – Sheffield Star
Runner Up:
Vicky Carr – Harrogate Advertiser
Feature Writer of the Year
Joint Winners:
Stephen Lewis – The Press, York
Rod McPhee – Yorkshire Evening Post
Runner Up:
Joe Shute – Yorkshire Post
Photographer of the Year
Winner:
Stephen Garnett – Craven Herald
Runners Up:
Rob Stebbing – Hull Daily Mail
Simon Hulme – The Yorkshire Post
Sports Journalist of the Year
Winner:
Paul Walker – BBC Radio Sheffield
Runners Up:
Paul Goodwin – Doncaster Free Press
Richard Sutcliffe – Yorkshire Post
Specialist Publication of the Year
Winner:
Leeds Student Newspaper
Runners Up:
Bradford Telegraph and Argus (Diamond Decade)
Yorkshire Post (100 day to Olympics)
Radio Broadcast Journalist of the Year
Joint Winners:
Claire Warren – Radio Aire
Johnathan l’Anson – BBC Radio Leeds
Television Broadcast Journalist of the Year
Winner:
Nicola Rees – BBC Yorkshire Look North
Runner Up:
Alan Whitehouse – BBC Yorkshire Look North
Young Journalist of the Year
Winner:
Emily Heward – Halifax Courier/Yorkshire Post
Runners Up:
Samantha Gildea – Batley and Birstall News
Katy Forrester – Hull Daily Mail
Juliette Bains – Yorkshire Evening Post
News Reporter of the Year
Winner:
Nicky Harley – Hull Daily Mail
Runners Up:
John Roberts – Yorkshire Post
Joe Shute – Yorkshire Post
Nicola Rees – BBC Yorkshire Look North
Business Journalist of the Year
Winner:
Greg Wright – Yorkshire Post
Runners Up:
David Hirst – ITV Yorkshire Calendar
Catherine Lea – Hull Daily Mail
Scoop of the Year
Winner:
ITV Yorkshire Calendar – In search of Ben Needham
Runners Up:
BBC Radio York – Hospital patient set on fire
Wetherby News – Free Billy Burton
Hull Daily Mail – Aye Aye Captain
Editorial Team of the Year
Winner:
Hull Daily Mail
Runners Up:
BBC Radio York
Yorkshire Post (Saturday Magazine)
Newspaper of the Year – Weekly
Winner:
Rotherham Advertiser
Runners Up:
Bridlington Free Press
Dewsbury Reporter
Wakefield Express
Newspaper of the Year – Daily
Winner:
Hull Daily Mail
Runners Up:
Yorkshire Post
The Press, York
Outstanding Contribution Award
Cyril Skinner – Bridlington Free Press
For more information contact:
Ann McCracken
O2
t:07850 708009
m:07850 708009
e: ann.mccracken@o2.com
About O2 in the UK
O2 is the commercial brand of Telefónica UK Limited and is a leading communications company with over 23 million customers – read more about O2 at www.o2.co.uk/news. O2 runs 2G and 3G networks and was the first to trial 4G/LTE, reaching speeds of over 100Mpbs, as well as owning half of Tesco Mobile. It also operates O2 Wifi, O2 Health, O2 Unify, O2 Media and has recently launched the O2 Wallet. O2 employs over 11,000 people in the UK, has 450 retail stores and sponsors The O2, O2 Academy venues and the England rugby team. Telefónica UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc which uses O2 as its commercial brand in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic and is a business division of Telefónica SA.
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