Birmingham Post journalists grabbed three awards at the inaugural West Midlands Media Awards, as Dan Mason looked on after resigning that afternoon.
Post chief reporter Paul Dale won Scoop of the Year and Best Advocate for the Region, while Sophie Blakemore was named as Newcomer of the Year.
Sister paper the Evening Mail also won three awards. Catherine Hendrick was Daily News Reporter of the Year and colleagues Trevor Roberts and Tim Easthope were named News Photographer of the Year and Sports Photographer of the Year respectively. The Sunday Mercury’s Andy Mallabone won the Headline of the Year award.
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Dale won £1,000 for his scoop – the revelation that Government planners intended to concrete over of acres of “middle England” to create a new airport near Rugby.
Other winners were: Stephen Houghton, The Sentinel, Stoke-on-Trent, Business Journalist of the Year; Sian Powell, Hinckley Times, News Reporter of the Year (weekly); Sean Dooley, The Sentinel/Sentinel Sunday, Newspaper of the Year; Julie Bayley, Northcliffe Electronic Publishing, Best Use of Technology; Martin Spinks, The Sentinel, Sports Journalist of the Year. A special category, “Irritant of the Year”, was won by the West Midlands Police Press Office. Central Trains came second.
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