This year’s judging panel was led by Denise West - previous managing director of Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd, and chief commercial officer of DC Thomson Media.
Denise was joined by 36 independent judges - which comprised 21 women and 15 men - from across the Scottish media, communications, and public affairs industries.
Denise West, chair of the Scottish Press Awards judges, said: “2021 was every bit as challenging for the Scottish Press as 2020, but the hard-won government investment gave publishers and editors a solid base on which to keep the public properly informed. The evidence from this year’s Scottish Press Awards entries is that Scotland’s journalists continued to meet and exceed the challenge with customary style and passion.
“Rising costs meant difficulties in the immediate future are undiminished, but so too is the commitment from Scotland’s journalists to maintain the supply of trusted, quality news flowing nationally and locally.
“As never before, the role of the press in holding the powerful to account is badly needed, and while the judges face a daunting task to select winners from some superb entries, we congratulate everyone in the industry, not just our finalists.”
The awards ceremony and dinner, organised by the Scottish Newspaper Society, will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central on Wednesday 21 September 2022.
The shortlist is as follows:
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Stephen Gallacher, The Sunday Post
Alice Hinds, The Sunday Post
Teddy Jamieson, The Herald Magazine
Neil Mackay, The Herald, Herald on Sunday
Iain Smith, Alloa and Hillfoots Advertiser
BEST COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT
Jack Aitchison, The Herald - Scottish Election Results
Connor Boylan, The Scottish Sun - Kilmarnock Stabbings
Jennifer Jones, Ayr Advertiser - Kincaidston Explosion
Gillian Loney, Glasgow Live - Kenmure Street Protests
Stacey Mullen, The Glasgow Times - Kenmure Street Protests
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Daily Record, Help Us Save Lives
Daily Record, Sturgeon's War Chest
Scotland on Sunday, Support our Libraries
Scottish Daily Mail, Secret Scotland
Sunday Mail, Annie's Campaign
The Sunday Post, Shaming
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Edrington
Jonathan Brocklebank, Scottish Daily Mail
Catherine Deveney, Press and Journal
Alex Massie, The Times Scotland, The Sunday Times Scotland
Euan McColm, Scotland on Sunday
Melanie Reid, The Times Scotland
FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Glenmorangie
Emma Cowing, Scottish Daily Mail
Dani Garavelli, Scotland on Sunday
Patricia Kane, Scottish Mail on Sunday
Neil Mackay, The Herald, Herald on Sunday
John MacLeod, Scottish Daily Mail
Jean West, The Sunday Times Scotland
FINANCIAL BUSINESS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland
Greig Cameron, The Times Scotland
Brian Donnelly, The Herald
Kristy Dorsey, The Herald
Martyn McLaughlin, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday
Peter Ranscombe, Scottish Field
FOOD AND DRINK WRITER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Diageo
Joanna Blythman, The Herald
Murray Chalmers, The Courier
Emma Cowing, Scottish Daily Mail
Ron MacKenna, The Herald Magazine
Chitra Ramaswamy, The Times Scotland
Catriona Thomson, The Scotsman
FRONT PAGE OF THE YEAR
The Courier
The Scottish Sun
The Scottish Sun on Sunday
The Sunday Post
Wishaw Press
INTERVIEWER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Event Consultants Scotland
Jonathan Brocklebank, Scottish Daily Mail
Heather Dewar, Scottish Daily Mail
Georgia Edkins, Scottish Mail on Sunday
Stephen Eighteen, The Courier
Teddy Jamieson, The Herald Magazine
JOURNALISM TEAM OF THE YEAR
DC Thomson, WW1 Memorial
Sunday Mail, COP26
The Ferret with The Herald, Who Runs Scotland
The Sunday Post, COP26
The Sunday Post, Afghanistan
LOCAL/WEEKLY CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Greenock Telegraph, Time to Talk
Press and Journal, Beach Clean
Press and Journal, Big Christmas Appeal
The Glasgow Times, Save our Venues
The Glasgow Times, Bank on Us
LOCAL/WEEKLY FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Michael Alexander, The Courier Weekend Magazine
Neil Drysdale, Press and Journal
Craig Munro, Press and Journal
Christina O'Neill, Glasgow Live
Niki Tennant, Hamilton Advertiser, Ayrshire and Coatbridge Advertiser,
Wishaw Press
LOCAL/WEEKLY REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Dale Haslam, Press and Journal, Evening Express, The Courier, Evening
Telegraph
Jennifer Jones, Ardossan Herald, Irvine Times
Sean O'Neil, The Courier, Press and Journal
Christina O'Neill, Glasgow Live
Stewart Paterson, The Glasgow Times
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by VisitScotland
Jane Barlow, Press Association
Mhairi Edwards, The Courier and Evening Telegraph
Andrew Milligan, PA Media
Jeff Mitchell, Getty Images
Victoria Stewart, Daily Record
NEWS WEBSITE OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Amazon
dailyrecord.co.uk
Glasgow Live
The Glasgow Times
The Courier
The Scotsman
NICOLA BARRY AWARD
Sponsored by Woman in Journalism Scotland
Shona Craven, The National
Heather Dewar, Scottish Daily Mail
Sandra Dick, The Herald, The Herald on Sunday
Marion Scott, The Sunday Post
Alex Watson, Press and Journal
PODCAST OF THE YEAR
Alastair Brian, The Ferret / The FFS Show Podcast
Kelly Crichton, The Scotsman - Scran
Chris Phin, The Courier - The Stooshie
Chris Phin, The Courier - Talking Football
Brian Taylor, The Herald
POLITICAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by The Law Society Scotland
Michael Blackley, Scottish Daily Mail
Paul Hutcheon, Daily Record
Conor Matchett, The Scotsman
Chris Musson, The Scottish Sun
Hannah Rodger, The Herald
REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Openreach
Vivienne Aitken, Daily Record
Gabriella Bennett, The Times Scotland
John Ferguson, Sunday Mail
Neil Mackay, The Herald, Herald on Sunday
Marion Scott, The Sunday Post
SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Gabriella Bennett, The Times Scotland
Annie Brown, Daily Record
John Ferguson, Sunday Mail
Susan Lochrie, Greenock Telegraph
Conor Matchett, The Scotsman
SPECIALIST REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Lindsay Bruce, Press and Journal
Rory Cassidy, Daily Record
Jane Hamilton, Daily Record
Helen McArdle, The Herald
Martyn McLaughlin, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday
SPORTS COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR
Michael Grant, The Times Scotland
Gary Keown, Scottish Mail on Sunday
Stephen McGowan, Scottish Daily Mail
Alastair Reid, The Times Scotland
Aidan Smith, The Scotsman
SPORTS FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Heather Dewar, Scottish Daily Mail
Michael Grant, The Times Scotland
Alan Pattullo, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday
Rob Robertson, Scottish Daily Mail
Aidan Smith, The Scotsman
SPORTS NEWS WRITER OF THE YEAR
Heather Dewar, Scottish Daily Mail
Robert Grieve, The Scottish Sun
Scott McDermott, Sunday Mail
Stephen McGowan, Scottish Daily Mail
Mark Palmer, The Times Scotland, The Sunday Times Scotland
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Michael Gillen, The Falkirk Herald
James Gunn, John O'Groat Journal, Caithness Courier
Ian MacNicol, Getty Images
Wullie Marr, Press and Journal and Evening Express
Andrew Milligan, PA Media
STUDENT OF THE YEAR
Amy Canavan, ENRG Sport, The Celtic Way
Gemma Murphy, The Strathclyde Telegraph
Erin Rizzato Devlin, SHOT Magazine, Rabble Review, Qmunicate
Daniella Theis, Strathclyde Telegraph
Ava Whyte, The Glasgow Times, Clydebank Post
TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR
Gabriella Bennett, The Times Scotland
Jeremy Lazell, The Times Scotland
Mike MacEacheran, The Telegraph, The Guardian, National Geographic
YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by SGN
Jack Aitchison, The Herald
Constance Kampfner, The Times Scotland
Beth Murray, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Evening News
Ben Palmer, The Times Scotland
Amy Shearer, Greenock Telegraph
WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
The shortlist will be announced early July.
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by The Big Partnership
The winner will be announced at The Scottish Press Awards on 21st September 2022
DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Scottish Newspaper Society
The winner will be announced at The Scottish Press Awards on 21st September 2022.
SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Scottish Newspaper Society
The winner will be announced at The Scottish Press Awards on 29th September 2022.
Shortlists for the Daily newspaper of the year, Sunday newspaper of the year and Journalist of the year awards have not been announced, as the winners will be announced on the night of the ceremony. The shortlist for the Weekly newspaper of the year will be revealed in July.
