Leading writers scoop Scottish Press Awards as honours celebrate the best in journalism
● Scotsman takes two major prizes as JPI Media enjoys string of successes
Two of The Scotsman’s premier writers have been honoured with top prizes at this year’s Scottish Press Awards.
Feature Writer of the Year winner was Dani Garavelli for her work in The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. Judges said she showed great range in her writing, “moving betweenthehighlypersonalto the extremely well researched with great skill”.
And the Nicola Barry Award, introduced in 2018 in honour of the late award-winning columnist and feature writer, went to Gina Davidson at The Scotsman for her work on the sensitive topic of domestic abuse, which judges said she showed “in a new light”, commentuing that she “triumphed” for her work.
The Scottish Press Awards went ahead this year despite Covid-19 lockdown measures meaning the usual awards ceremony could not take place.
Three journalists writing and producing for JPI Media titles won awards overall and another three narrowly missed out and took runners-up spots. Two of the company’s weekly titles grabbed the top two places in the Local/weekly Newspaper of the Year category.
Craig Sinclair scooped best Video of the Year for his work in the Edinburgh Evening News. Judges said he demonstrated “exceptional production values” and focused on a specific subject that touched the lives of many in the target audience area and told a story “at every twist and bend with passion and authority”.
The Fife Free Press won the Local/weekly newspaper of the year category. Judges said the team managed to produce some “imaginative and eye-catching”frontpagesand, from news through to sport, managed to reflect the community it serves by informing the readers and standing up for them too. The Falkirk Herald took the runners-up spot in the same category.
Alastair Dalton was named runner-up in the Financial/ Business Journalist of the Year section, having broken the exclusive on Flybe flying two empty jets 500 miles to transport the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge and their children to Aberdeen.
Other journalists narrowly missing out included Conor Matchett at the Edinburgh Evening News in the Young Journalist of the Year category. Mr Matchett broke the exclusive on the Jenners brand disappearing from Edinburgh’s Princes Street for good.
Morven Mcintyre also took second spot in the Podcast of the Year category for her work in the Edinburgh Evening News. The 41st Scottish Press
Awards is sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, the Law Society Scotland, Visitscotland, People’s Postcode Lottery, SGN, Openreach, Diageo, Amazon, People’s Energy and BIG Partnership.
Frank O’donnell, editorial director of Scotsman Publications, said: “I am immensely proud that yet again our titles have featured strongly in the Scottish Press Awards.
“Against fierce competition – and in an incredibly challenging business environment – our journalists have demonstrated their creativity, diligence and tenacity.
“These awards are a tribute not only to the individuals, but tothenewsdesks,picturedesk, production staff and other editors who make that copy work so well in print and digital.”
This year’s judging panel comprised 37 independent judges from across Scottish media, politics and public affairs, including veteran news presenter Jackie Bird, former Scottish Conservative leader and ex-journalist Ruth Davidson, Lib Dem MP and former Press Association Scotland editor Christine Jardine and BBC investigators Sam Poling and Lucy Adams.
Chair of judges Denise West, former chief commercial officer at DC Thomson Media, said: “The judges were thoroughly impressed by the high quality of all the final entries, particularly the excellent stories published by the weekly papers.”