Shetland Times Retains Newspaper Of The Year Award

For the second year running, the Shetland Times has been voted Newspaper of the Year by the Highland and Islands Media Awards’ judging panel. Editor Jonathan Lee  will receive a cheque for £500, to be donated to a charity of the newspaper’s choice, at the Highland and Islands Press Ball being held at the Newton Hotel, Nairn on Friday 2 February. The most northerly local newspaper in the area caught the eye of the judges with its excellent all round coverage of news and sport and in particular of its reporting of the successful campaign to persuade immigration officials to return local athlete, Sakchai Makao, to the island after he was arrested without warning on immigration charges.

Shetland Times reporter Rosalind Griffiths made it a double for the paper by being chosen Local Newspaper Reporter of the Year, pipping Hector MacKenzie,  editor of the Ross-shire Journal, who was highly commended.

The Community Newspaper of the Year is Ileach, Islay. The paper will receive a cheque for £300, £100 of which will go to local charity.

The Northern Scot, Elgin, also recorded a double success. Bryan McKellar won the Young Journalist of the Year Award, lifting the Alex Main Trophy and Eric Cormack is again Local Newspaper Photographer of the Year.

Reporter of the Year and first winner of the Jim Love Memorial Trophy is Moira Kerr of the Press and Journal, who submitted three top notch exclusive stories.  Gavin Musgrove, editor of the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald was highly commented. The family of the former editor of the Inverness Courier donated the trophy after Jim died in the summer of last year.

Feature Writer of the Year is Lynne Kennedy, West Highland Free Press and highly commended is Val Sweeney, Inverness Courier.

Sports Writer of the Year is David Flanagan, Orkney, and highly commended is Eric MacKinnon, Hebridean.

Photographer of the Year is Ewen Weatherspoon, a freelance photographer from Inverness. Highly commended is Willie Urquhart of the West Highland Free Press.

Bryan Henesey, Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, was highly commended in the Young Journalist of the Year Award and Phil Downie, freelance photographer, Inverness, was highly commended in the Local Photographer of the Year Award.

The awards attract prizemoney of £2,000. The main sponsors are Diageo, the world’s premier drinks company. The UHI Millennium Institute sponsors the prize for the Community Newspaper of the Year Award.

                                                 -ENDS-

HIGHLAND AND ISLANDS MEDIA AWARDS