City daily takes top honours at Scottish Press Awards
All the winners from 47th editon of event
Dundee daily The Courier won top honours at this year's Scottish Press Awards, being crowned newsbrand of the year in addition to three other prizes.
The DC Thomson title emerged as the big winner as the 47th edition of the awards took place in Glasgow.
As well as being named Scottish Newsbrand of the Year, The Courier won the Journalism Team of the Year, Podcast of the Year and Regional Journalist of the Year for Justin Bowie.
Sister title the Press and Journal was also among the prizes, winning Best Coverage of a Live Event for the Scottish Cup Final and Women in Journalism's Nicola Barry Award, for Lindsay Bruce.
Courier editor David Clegg said: "To be named Scottish Newsbrand of the Year is a tremendous honour and a proud moment for everyone at The Courier.
"This award recognises the dedication, creativity and integrity of our journalists, who work tirelessly to deliver impactful, trusted reporting for our readers every day.
"We are privileged to serve our communities and to tell the stories that matter most to them.
"To see that work recognised so strongly across the awards is a fantastic achievement for the entire team."
Judges praised The Courier for exposing the blunders at the heart of the Sandy Peggie tribunal judgement, which concerned a transgender doctor using a female changing room, and for becoming the leading source of information for hundreds of staff at crisis-hit Dundee University.
"The Courier gives great voice to its readers and simply cannot be ignored," they said.
"It exposed the blunders at the heart of the Sandy Peggie tribunal judgement and became the number one source of information for hundreds of staff at crisis-ridden Dundee University.
“Ruffling feathers in a small city is not easy and requires bravery. The editor David Clegg put himself on the line by personally explaining the limitations on reporting the details behind a stabbing incident which shocked the community and became an international story."
A total of 28 awards recognising the vital work of print and digital journalism were handed out.
The Orcadian was named Weekly Newsbrand of the Year with judges highlighting the strength of content, deep understanding of community needs and their achievements in driving change, initially led by managing director Craig MacInnes, who died last year at the tragically young age of 44.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Hugh MacDonald in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Scottish journalism over many decades.
A journalist at The Herald for over 40 years before moving to the Scottish Daily Mail around 10 years ago, Hugh is perhaps most famously known for his work following Andy Murray’s career.
Chair of Judges Richard Neville said: “These awards celebrate talent from across the whole of Scotland and showcase strength, determination and public value of journalism at every level of our industry.
“From investigations and campaigning journalism to local reporting that keeps communities informed, tonight’s winners demonstrate the extraordinary quality of journalism being produced across Scotland.”
Newsbrands Scotland director John McLellan said: “Many congratulations to our winners and finalists, and as ever, our sincere thanks go to all our sponsors and judges, but particularly to all our entrants for supporting the awards.
“My deepest thanks also go to our events organiser Susan Mathieson for staging another splendid ceremony and gala dinner and without whom the whole scheme simply wouldn’t happen."
The full list winners was as follows.
Young Journalist of the Year: Billy Gaddi – Daily Record
Arts and Entertainment Journalist of the Year: Brian Ferguson – The Herald
Interviewer of the Year: Gavin Madeley – Scottish Daily Mail
Food and Drink Writer of the Year: Chitra Ramaswamy – The Times Scotland
Financial/ Business Journalist of the Year: Martin Williams – The Herald and Herald on Sunday
Political Journalist of the Year: Paul Hutcheon – Daily Record
Specialist Reporter of the Year: Graham Mann – The Scottish Sun
Columnist of the Year: Kevin McKenna – The Herald
Sports Columnist of the Year: Graeme McGarry – The Herald
Sports Journalist of the Year: Keith Jackson – Daily Record
Feature Writer of the Year: Vicky Allan – The Herald
News Photographer of the Year: Wattie Cheung - Freelance
Sports Photographer of the Year: Andrew Milligan – Press Association
Best Coverage of a Live Event: The Press and Journal / Evening Express – Scottish Cup Final
Podcast of the Year: The Courier – Who killed Annalise?
Video of the Year: John Devlin – The Scotsman
Regional Journalist of the Year: Justin Bowie – The Courier
Weekly Journalist of the Year: Ethan Flett – The Orcadian
Nicola Barry Award: Lindsay Bruce – The Press and Journal / Evening Express
Lifetime Achievement Award: Hugh MacDonald
Reporter of the Year: Graham Mann – The Scottish Sun
Front Page of the Year: The Scottish Sun
Journalism Team of the Year: The Courier – Sandy Peggie
Scoop of the Year: Paul Hutcheon and Mark McGivern – Daily Record
Campaign of the Year: Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald – Save our Harbour
Weekly Newsbrand of the Year: The Orcadian
Journalist of the Year: Graham Mann – The Scottish Sun
Scottish Newsbrand of the Year: The Courier
