As reported by Mariella Brown on the Society of Editors website:
Power Up The North is a collaborative campaign run by regional newspapers in the north of England calling for an end to the widening of the divide between the north and south in England, but the winning Making a Difference entry was submitted by The Yorkshire Post. The initiative previously jointly won Campaign of the Year at the Society’s Regional Press Awards in June.
The Daily Mirror ran the Helen’s Law campaign in support of a grieving mother to ensure that the perpetrators who refuse to reveal the location of their victims’ bodies are not granted parole from life sentences. Following three years of the paper’s campaigning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson included the new law as a Bill in his first Queen’s Speech, saying it recognised the pain suffered by grieving families.
Accepting the local award in a post on Twitter, Yorkshire Post editor James Mitchinson praised figures from across the industry, including Reach’s chief audience officer David Higgerson and Manchester Evening News editor Darren Thwaites, for their support.
James said: “Humbled by this but must stress that it was far from just a YP initiative.
“Couldn’t have happened without the efforts of David Higgerson, Darren Thwaites and their teams as well as fellow JPIMedia editors, friends and partners from across the North.”
Entries for the award by the News Media Association (NMA) were compiled from submissions to the Society of Editors’ National and Regional Press Awards.
An online Making a Difference vote was conducted earlier in the week of Journalism Matters – the NMA’s campaign to highlight the importance of trusted journalism, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic.
The public were invited to view the campaigns in the local and national showcases and vote for their favourites.
Journalism Matters has attracted widespread support from The Queen to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson who tweeted his support for #TrustedNewsDay on Thursday 8 October.
