BBC heads pack in O2 Media Awards shortlist

Yorkshire Post, Hull Daily Mail and Sheffield Star also feature strongly

BBC Look North features prominently in the nominations for this year’s O2 Media Awards for Yorkshire and the Humber.

BBC journalists appear in six of the award categories. Reporter Dan Johnson is the stand-out performer with a hat-trick of nominations for best TV journalist, best overall news reporter and scoop of the year for his investigation into police officers colluding over witness statements during the Yorkshire Miners’ strike.

Close on the station’s heels are colleagues from BBC local radio who also have six category nominations.

In the print categories, it’s a neck and neck battle of the region’s dailies. The Yorkshire Post, Hull Daily Mail, Sheffield Star Bradford Telegraph and Argus all have multiple nominations for individual and team awards.

Last year’s paid for Weekly Newspaper of the Year, the Rotherham Advertiser will be defending its crown but faces stiff opposition from the Barnsley Chronicle, Whitby Gazette and Wakefield Express.

In the weekly free category, the Leeds Student newspaper makes the final line-up alongside the Dearne Valley Weekender and Retford Guardian.

With almost 300 individual entries, the O2 Awards is the biggest regional press event in the country. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on September 5 at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Judging was conducted over three separate days and the panels were made up of working editors and senior news executives from print, radio and television.

For the second year, the awards will recognise the work of media students across Yorkshire and the Humber with a prize for Emerging Talent. Finalists in this category will be named next month.

Nicola Green, Director of Communications and Reputation at O2 UK, said interest in the O2 awards continues to increase.

“It’s six years now since we launched the first awards. Entries this year, particularly in some of the new categories such as Specialist Publication and New Media, have been substantial which also shows how the regional media is evolving.

“The judging panels were hugely impressed by the quality and diversity of portfolios. There were so many excellent entries across all categories. It makes selecting the shortlist more difficult every year,” he added.

The company launched the regional media awards in Cheshire in 2008. Since then the competition has grown and now covers both Yorkshire and the whole of the North West. The North West Awards will launch next week and be judged in September.

Successful nominees should contact Rossiter Media on 01829 741371 or Liz@rossitermedia.co.uk / o2mediaawards@rossitermedia.co.uk for more details about the awards evening and to arrange for their tickets.

List of nominees:

New Media Journalist of the Year

Graham Walker – Sheffield Star

Dave Doyle – Rotherham Advertiser

Stuart Goulden – One&Other York

Feature Writer of the Year

David Barnett – Bradford Telegraph & Argus

Phoebe Jackson-Edwards – Hull Daily Mail

Rod McPhee – Yorkshire Post

Martin Smith – Sheffield Star

Photographer of the Year

Frank Dwyer – The Press York

Stephen Garnett – Craven Herald

Andy Garbutt – Bradford Telegraph & Argus

Tony Johnson  – Yorkshire Post

Sports Journalist of the Year

Tom Richmond – Yorkshire Post

Richard Fidler – Sheffield Star

Chris Dawkes – ITV Yorkshire Calendar

Scott Wilson – Northern Echo

Specialist Publication of the Year

Northern Farmer

Bradford Telegraph and Argus (City at Wembley)

Singletrack Magazine

Yorkshire Post (Yorkshire County Cricket)

Radio Broadcast Journalist of the Year

Claire Warren – Radio Aire

James Vincent – BBC Radio Sheffield

Elly Fiorentini – BBC Radio York

Louise Jackson – BBC Radio Leeds

Television Broadcast Journalist of the Year

Dan Johnson – BBC Yorkshire Look North

Charlotte Leeming – BBC Yorkshire Look North

Duncan Wood – ITV Yorkshire Calendar

Young Journalist of the Year

Jim Coldwell – Hull Daily Mail

Jenna Thompson – Hull Daily Mail

Toby Higgins – Sheffield Star

News Reporter of the Year

Dan Johnson – BBC Yorkshire Look North

Kevin Shoesmith –  Hull Daily Mail

James Vincent – BBC Radio Sheffield

Rob Waugh – Yorkshire Post

Business Journalist of the Year

Paul Murphy – BBC Look North

Catherine Lea – Hull Daily Mail

Danni Hewson – BBC Look North

Scoop of the Year

Kevin Shoesmith, Hull Daily Mail – Paedophile ring exposed

Selina Maycock – Scunthorpe Telegraph – Let me wed before I die

Dan Johnson, BBC Look North / Inside Out – Police collusion during miners’ strike

David Hirst, ITV Yorkshire Calendar – Ripper’s backing for Savile

James Vincent, BBC Radio Sheffield – Closure of Dom Valley Stadium

Editorial Team of the Year

Bradford Telegraph and Argus

Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express and Pontefract and Castleford Express

BBC Radio Sheffield

Weekly Free Newspaper of the Year

Leeds Student Newspaper

Dearne Valley Weekender

Retford Guardian

Weekly Paid For Newspaper of the Year

Barnsley Chronicle

Whitby Gazette

Wakefield Express

Rotherham Advertiser

Daily Newspaper of the Year

Yorkshire Post

Sheffield Star

Hull Daily Mail