The shortlist for the 41st Scottish Press Awards has been announced today (12 March 2020), recognising the very best of journalism from across the country.
Celebrating the vital work of print and digital journalism over 29 categories – including Digital Team of the Year and Campaign of the Year – three new awards have been introduced for 2020: Headline of the Year, Podcast of the Year and Video of the Year.
The 2020 shortlisted nominees have all been recognised for playing a crucial role in the Scottish media landscape across categories including current affairs, politics, business, sport and the arts, including photography.
A shortlist has not been unveiled for the highly coveted Newspaper of the Year and Journalist of the Year awards, sponsored by the Scottish Newspaper Society and BIG Partnership respectively, which instead will be announced during the prestigious award ceremony on 23 April 2020 at the Glasgow Central Doubletree by Hilton.
This year’s judging panel was led by Denise West who was joined 37 independent judges from across the Scottish media and public affairs industry. The female-dominated panel included veteran news presenter, Jackie Bird, politician, Ruth Davidson and journalist, Lucy Adams.
Denise West, chair of the Scottish Press Awards judges, said: “I’m delighted, if somewhat daunted, to be succeeding Austin Lafferty as Chair of the Press Awards judges. Austin has provided sterling service and sage advice over the last 5 years and his are big shoes to fill.
“From what I’ve seen so far, standards are as high as they’ve always been and it’s so encouraging to see that quality content is still the benchmark of Scottish newspapers – no matter their size. Selecting winners is going to be no mean feat.
“With a record number of entries, it’s clear that as far as generating great scoops, gripping features and brilliant pictures Scotland is still served by the highest quality of journalism.”
The 41st Scottish Press Awards are sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, The Law Society Scotland, VisitScotland, People’s Postcode Lottery, SGN, Openreach, Diageo, Amazon, People’s Energy and BIG Partnership.