Sorcha wins Regional Journalist of the Year:
THE Sligo Champion reporter Sorcha Crowley has been named Regional Journalist of the Year at the 2017 NewsBrands Ireland Journalism awards.
Sorcha picked up the award at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House last Thursday 2nd November for “a good news story well told” about IT Sligo researchers using mirror therapy to help stroke patients move again.
In his address to over 400 guests, President of Local Ireland Frank Mulrennan said the strength of the regional press is its closeness to the communities it serves and giving a voice to those whose stories would otherwise never be told.
“At their best what regional journalists have is a unique understanding of local concerns and access to local sources,” he said.
“The winner of the Regional Journalist of the Year recognised a piece of research being undertaken in the local Institute of Technology could have a ground breaking impact.
“She talked to the scientists involved in research using mirrors to trick the brain of stroke victims, to bring movement back to limbs that had ceased to function.
“The story quotes both the scientists and stroke victims and was written with care and without sensationalism,” he said.
In her category, Sorcha was up against Dan Danaher of the Clare Champion, Kieran McCarthy of the Southern Star and Fintan Walsh of the Limerick Leader.
“In a time when the newspaper industry is being threatened by ‘fake news’ and online advertising, this award highlights the valuable role local journalists play in Sligo,” said Sorcha after the ceremony.
“The entire team at The Sligo Champion as well as myself are dedicated to giving Sligo people a voice they wouldn’t have otherwise through quality, reliable journalism,” she said.
It’s the second award Sorcha has won for her work this year: she won Best Feature of the Year 2017 at the Local Ireland National Media Awards in May.
This year’s Journalism Awards elicited a staggering response of some 1,400 individual entries – the biggest entry ever. To assess the work submitted, NewsBrands Ireland assembled a new independent judging panel comprising high-profile media figures from both inside and outside the newspaper industry.
The chair of the judging panel for the NewsBrands Awards, Matt Dempsey, said the standard of the 1,400 entries received was higher than ever before, and that even to get nominated meant “you must be a very talented journalist”.
NewsBrands Ireland Chairperson, Vincent Crowley, described the awards as “a celebration of talent, curiosity, courage and dogged dedication to the art of journalism”. “They are also a timely reminder of the importance of a free press in Ireland today,” said Mr Crowley. “Freedom of expression remains a keystone of our democracy, but make no mistake – it is under threat.
“It is vital that journalism is protected by a legislative framework that empowers journalists to do their jobs – that is, to inform the public and to hold accountable all those in positions of power. That is not currently possible, and we continue to wait impatiently for much-needed reform of our libel/ defamation laws.”
Addressing Minister for Communications, Denis Naughton, Mr Crowley also described the current VAT rate of 9% on newspapers as a “tax on reading, literacy and information” and again called on the Government to reduce the VAT rate on newspapers to zero.
A special award for investigative research was presented to Tuam historian Catherine Corless for her work uncovering the existence of hundreds of bodies of infants buried at the old mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.
Broadcaster Matt Cooper was MC.