NUJ announces Regional Press Awards shortlist

New Scottish newspaper the Caledonian Mercury and collaborative investigative journalism site Help Me Investigate have been shortlisted in the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Regional Press Awards.

Stewart Kirkpatrick, the former Scotsman.com editor who launched the Caledonian Mercury in February, and Help Me Investigate founder Paul Bradshaw have been nominated for the Multimedia Publisher of the Year prize. Peter Raven from Archant's Pink'Un and Jo Wood, digital publisher of Northcliffe's thisiscornwall.co.uk, are both shortlisted in the same category.

Sion Donovan from the News, Portsmouth; Gail Milne from the Glenrothes Gazette; Nick Stylianou from Royal Holloway's Student Union magazine the Orbital; William Watt from the Blackpool Gazette; and Joseph Watts from the Nottingham Post will compete for the Multimedia Journalist of the Year Award.

The Press' Gavin Aitchinson, the Irish News' Bimpe Archer, and Cherry Wilson from the Croydon Advertiser & Rotherham Advertiser have all received two nominations in the reporter of the year and scoop of the year categories.

The awards were taken over by the NUJ this year after former organisers Wilmington Group, which sold trade title Press Gazette but retained the rights to the awards, announced it would not be running the event, citing a lack of support from newspaper publishers.

"I'd like to record my thanks to all entrants in the awards this year for the dedication they've shown in producing outstanding regional journalism in an era dominated by neglect and cost-cutting on the part of so many regional news publishers," says NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear on the NUJ website.

The shortlist in full is available at this link. The winners will be announced on 29 June.

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