The first shortlists for the Regional Press Awards 2003 have been announced. They are:
Specialist writer: Sharon Edwards, Lincolnshire Echo; Jane Woodham, Liverpool Echo; Mark Nicholls, Eastern Daily Press; Steven Shukor, Nottingham Evening Post; Jayne Freer, Evening Herald, Plymouth; Chris Thornton, Belfast Telegraph.
Sports journalist: Steve Mellen, East Anglian Daily Times; Phil Rostron, Yorkshire Evening Post; Martin Smith, The Star, Sheffield; Matthew Reeder, Yorkshire Post; John Gibson, Evening Chronicle, Newcastle; Dave Allard, Evening Star, Ipswich
Business and financial journalist: Peter Sharples, Manchester Evening News; Bill Gleeson, Daily Post, Liverpool; Jeremy Smith, Swindon Evening Advertiser; Stephen Houghton, The Sentinel, Stoke; James Stinson, Irish News; Nigel Scott, Yorkshire Evening Post.
Columnist of the year: Faith Eckersall, Daily Echo, Bournemouth; Stacia Briggs, Evening News, Norwich; Ron Ferguson, Press and Journal, Aberdeen; Jeremy Wilson, Southern Daily Echo; Mary O’Leary, Evening Herald, Plymouth; Anne Pickles, Yorkshire Evening Post.
Scoop: “Huntley And Carr Arrests”, Grimsby Telegraph; “Secret Murder Files Revealed”, Chris Thornton, Belfast Telegraph; “Stoke City is Mystery bidder for Port Vale”, Michael Baggaley, The Sentinel, Stoke; “‘I Cry Most Nights’ – Special Branch Hero Stephen Oakes’s Widow”, Fiona McCartney, Macclesfield Express; “Holly Wells Father Talks Of Family Trauma”, James Fuller, Cambridge Evening News; “The airport sites they didn’t want you to know about”, Paul Dale, Birmingham Post.
Reporter: David Leask, Glasgow Evening Times; Sarah Lester, Manchester Evening News; Carl Eve, Basildon Echo; Mark Thomas, Liverpool Echo; Wendy Scott, Ardric & Coatbridge Advertiser; Mark Cowan, Birmingham Evening Mail.
Young journalist: Richard Edwards, Western Daily Press; Debbie Watson, Evening Star, Ipswich; Caroline Wheeler, Sunday Mercury; Joseph Lee, The Press, Barnet; James Ducker; Manchester Evening News; Emma Slee, Express & Echo, Exeter.
Feature writer: Mary Fitzgerald, Belfast Telegraph; George Frew, Western Daily Press; Reg Little, The Oxford Times; James Fraser-Andrews, Evening Star, Ipswich; Caroline Foulkes, Birmingham Post; Simon Dunford, Eastern Daily Press.
Photography and team shortlists will be announced in Press Gazette soon. Winners will be announced at a gala lunch at the Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane on 4 July. For table bookings, call Andrea Hayes on 020 8565 3056 or on andreah@qpp.co.uk.
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