The stories and journalists from The Press and Journal have been recognised at a national awards ceremony as some of the best in Scotland.
A number of our entries were featured on the shortlist for the prestigious 43rd Scottish Press Awards when it was revealed earlier this year.
The winners were announced during a ceremony in Glasgow on Wednesday night – with the P&J among the best talent from the sector celebrated.
The P&J scooped one of the top prizes of the night by being named daily newspaper of the year, with editor-in-chief Frank O’Donnell taking to the stage to receive the award.
He said: “The rest of Scotland now knows what P&J readers have known for generations – this is our country’s very best newspaper.
“But this award is in particular a timely recognition of the way we have built on centuries of experience over the last 18 months to create a news product that delivers everything modern readers want.
“As a team, we have decisively shown that there does not have to be a choice between producing top-quality online news and the sort of daily print product our communities have come to know and love.”
The Daily Newspaper of the Year Award goes to the @pressjournal! This award has been sponsored by @scotnewssociety. To collect this award, is P&J editor-in-chief, Frank O'Donnell. pic.twitter.com/i4nDDgVW2Q
— ScotPressAwards (@ScotPressAwards) September 21, 2022
What did The Press and Journal win?
Neil Drysdale has been named one of the best in the country for his feature writing in the local and weekly category.
His award-winning work looks back on a shocking murder in Aberdeen from 60 years ago and the story of a young girl who fled the Nazis in Austria and ended up in the north-east.
Next up is the award for Local/Weekly Reporter of the Year. The runner up is @brightey from the Press and Journal and the winner is…@s_oneil88 from the Press and Journal and The Courier. pic.twitter.com/538WZExO72
— ScotPressAwards (@ScotPressAwards) September 21, 2022
The local weekly reporter award was won by Sean O’Neil from the Impact team for his in-depth investigative work, including Missing from The Broch – the P&J’s documentary exploring the disappearance of Shaun Ritchie.
Runner up in the category was fellow Impact journalist Dale Haslam who explored the untold stories of Trump at Menie in a series of five articles as part of his entry.
The P&J’s Environment and Transport team led by Kieran Beattie and Philippa Gerrard scooped the award for campaign of the year for Beach Clean Champions.
For their coverage of the ‘Beach Clean’, the Local/Weekly Campaign of the Year award goes to @pressjournal. Well done to the winners, and runners up @Glasgow_Times for their coverage of ‘Save our Venues’. pic.twitter.com/hdDmf0vXYk
— ScotPressAwards (@ScotPressAwards) September 21, 2022
Catherine Deveney won the title of columnist of the year for her opinion pieces in the P&J, with her entries exploring topics such as the gender pay gap and harassment of schoolgirls.
DC Thomson’s podcast The Stooshie, featuring reporters from the P&J and The Courier, was named Podcast of the Year for its weekly insights and analysis on everything to do with Scottish politics.
Our next award goes to the Podcast of the Year. Congratulations to runner up @FerretScot and our winner, @stooshiescot! pic.twitter.com/4UqPB3OIdh
— ScotPressAwards (@ScotPressAwards) September 21, 2022
Obituaries writer Lindsay Bruce was announced as runner up in the specialist reporter of the year category for her sensitive and heartfelt work, including her interview with the mother of Banchory graduate Darren Forest who died just six days after his cancer diagnosis.
DC Thomson winners
Our colleagues from other DC Thomson titles also picked up prizes at the ceremony on Wednesday night.
The Courier scooped the award for news website of the year.
Marion Scott from The Sunday Post received the Nicola Barry Award, sponsored by Women in Journalism, which goes to a female journalist deserving of recognition.
She was also awarded reporter of the year for her work on the paper.
Sponsored by @WeAreOpenreach, the next award is for Reporter of the Year. Our winner is @ladymcbeth2 of The Sunday Post and runner up goes to @johncferguson of the Sunday Mail. pic.twitter.com/pYVjndxAI2
— ScotPressAwards (@ScotPressAwards) September 21, 2022
The Sunday Post received the prize for Sunday newspaper of the year.
It was also named runner-up in three categories – front page of the year, journalism team of the year for its COP26 coverage and campaign of the year for Shaming.
The Shaming campaign explored the deaths of two young women killed by men and failed by police and prosecutors, with the aim of securing better protection for women at risk of male violence.
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