Regional press awards

Tuesday 21 April All four home countries are represented on the shortlist for front page of the year in the Regional Press Awards. Scotland and England each have two finalists, while Northern Ireland and Wales have one apiece.
Jon Austin of the Basildon Echo is the journalist with the most nominations, making the final six in four categories: daily newspaper reporter, specialist writer, business and finance journalist and scoop of the year. Trinity Mirror's Media Wales and the Birmingham Mail each have seven nominations, and the Eastern Daily Press and Sunday Post have six.
The awards, organised by the Society of Editors, will be presented at the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel on May 15.
See the full shortlists here

The 2013 awards

Saturday 17 May, 2014
The local paper reporter who made national headlines when police ordered him to stop harassing a conwoman has been named weekly reporter of the year for the second time.
Gareth Davies of the Croydon Advertiser was described as a "worthy winner all round" by judges of the Regional Press Awards, which were presented at the Lancaster Hotel in London last night. Davies had previously won the award in 2012.
The judges' citations included particular praise for Ben Leo's "astounding exclusive" for the Brighton Argus, showing that people in Sussex had spent £1bn on fixed-odds betting machines in a year, and for Jon Austin's "cracking investigative work" for the Basildon Echo.
The scoop of the year award went to Zena Hawley of the Derby Telegraph for her story about teachers being ordered to wear hijabs and the campaign of the year went to the Camden New Journal freesheet which fought to save the Whittington hospital.  "The fact that local MPs did not even know about an intended health service sell-off until the paper splashed with the story is astounding," the judges said.
The North-West Evening Mail was judged to have produced the year's best front page with its picture of a baby created from a mosaic of pictures of people who supported a campaign to save local maternity services.
The popular choice for the Newspaper Society's Making a Difference award was the Yorkshire Post's campaign on loneliness.
Local World was the most successful group with six awards. Newsquest won five and the family-owned CN group took four, including two in the best newspaper categories and the front page of the year.

The full list of winners

Young journalist Ben Leon, Brighton Argus
Business and finance journalist  Ben Woods, Eastern Daily Press
Specialist writer Jon Austin, Basildon Echo
Feature writer Lee Marlow, Leicester Mercury
Columnist  Sadie Hasler, Basildon Echo
Blog Peter Rhodes, Express & Star, Wolverhampton
Weekly sports journalist Chris Harby, Melton Times
Daily/Sunday sports journalist Jon Colman, Carlisle News & Star
Weekly reporter  Gareth Davies, Croydon Advertiser
Daily/Sunday reporter  Ben Wilkinson, Oxford Mail
Weekly photographer Anna Draper, Lincolnshire Echo
Daily/Sunday photographer Will Johnston, Leicester Mercury
Designer Gary Beckwith, Newcastle Chronicle
Supplement Week End, Western Mail
Front page ‘Hear Our Voices’, North West Evening Mail
Scoop ‘Teachers at City Muslim school ‘ordered to wear hijabs’, Zena Hawley, Derby Telegraph
Campaign ‘Save the Whittington Hospital’, Camden New Journal
Website www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Digital award Liverpool Echo
Journalists' Charity award  Peter Barron, Editor, The Northern Echo
Chairman's award Deric Henderson, Press Association
Weekly newspaper (below 20,000) Brentwood Gazette
Weekly newspaper (above 20,000) Cumberland News
Daily/Sunday newspaper (Below 25,000) Carlisle News & Star
Daily/Sunday newspaper (above 25,000) Express & Star, Wolverhampton
NS Making a Difference campaign Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic, The Yorkshire Post