A9 campaign sees Inverness Courier shortlisted for major titles at Scottish Press Awards
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The Inverness Courier is celebrating a hat-trick after it was shortlisted for three prestigious titles in this year’s Scottish Press Awards.
Its campaign to ‘Dual the A9’ has been recognised - making not one but two of the final shortlists for its work on the government’s delayed pledge to improve the busy trunk road.
The first of these shortlists is in the Campaign of the Year category, where the paper’s ‘Dual the A9’ campaign will be competing against major national and regional newspapers, with it up against The Sunday Post, Scottish Sun, Glasgow Times, and The Courier in Dundee.
It is also down to the final six for Front Page of the Year for a striking front page depicting a tombstone that symbolised the death of Holyrood’s original pledge to dual the road by 2025.
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That front page went viral online, and was circulated widely by public and politicians alike, and earned it a chance to pick up the Front Page of the Year award against entries from the Daily Mail, Scottish Mail on Sunday, The Sunday National, The Scotsman, and The Courier.
Elsewhere, Inverness Courier reporter Scott Maclennan rounds out The Inverness Courier’s trio of shortlist hopefuls, after he was named among the final five in the Weekly Journalist of the Year category.
The three shortlist slots were not the only successes achieved by The Inverness Courier’s parent company - Highland News and Media - with two of the other four hopefuls for Weekly Journalist of the Year also working for its newspapers. They are Alan Hendry from the Caithness Courier and John O’Groat Journal, and Lewis McBlane, who writes for the Northern Scot in Elgin, the Huntly Express and the Banffshire Herald.
And a sixth Highland News & Media hopeful, meanwhile, is vying for Sports News Writer of the Year - with Craig Christie of the Northern Scot and Huntly Express facing challenges from journalists at the likes of the Scottish Daily Mail, Scottish Sun, and The Herald.
The other two hopefuls joining Scott, Alan and Lewis on the final shortlist are Tristan Stewart-Robertson from the Helensburgh Advertiser/Clydebank Post, and Ava Whyte from the Clydebank Post.
The award nods for The Inverness Courier follow hot on the heels of similar shortlist success in the Regional Press Awards, where it was into the final in two categories.
Inverness Courier team shortlisted for two Regional Press Awards
The various winners of these three shortlists, and the other 23 categories, will be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow next month.
The organisers say they are delighted with the number of entrants in this year’s Scottish Press Awards, which recognise excellence in national, regional, and digital journalism from across the country.
This year’s judging panel was led by Richard Neville, former Head of News Brands at DC Thomson, and current Director of Neville Robertson Communications.
Richard Neville, chair of the Scottish Press Awards judges, said: “It has been fantastic to see the quality of entries to this year’s awards. The talent in this industry stretches right across the spectrum of digital and print publishing and across every region of the country.
“The need for incisive, challenging journalism grows every year and Scotland’s journalists have risen to the task in the past 12 months.
“Telling good stories will always be at the heart of what the industry does but holding the rich, powerful, and opportunistic chancers to account is of equal importance. It is clear from this year’s shortlist that Scotland is not a place to come to avoid scrutiny.”
The 45th Scottish Press Awards are sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, Diageo, VisitScotland, Edrington, Openreach, Glenmorangie, The Law Society of Scotland, Caledonian MacBrayne, Registers of Scotland, Muckle Media, Amazon, Women in Journalism Scotland, BIG Partnership, Weber Shandwick, Event Consultants Scotland and Newsbrands Scotland.
Overseen by Newsbrands Scotland (formerly the Scottish Newspaper Society), the awards ceremony and dinner will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central on May 29.
