Four dailies and four weekly titles are to do battle for the title Midlands Newspaper of the Year as the shortlist for this year’s Midlands Media Awards was unveiled.

The Birmingham Mail, Express and Star, Derby Telegraph and Burton Mail will go up against the Hereford Times, Hinckley Times, Sunday Mercury and Tamworth Herald for the prize.

This year’s awards will be handed out on 2 November at Canalside, a waters-edge location within The Cube in Birmingham city cent

The Newspaper of the Year finalists are pictured below.

Newcomer of the Year proved the most hotly-contested category in this year’s awards, with 26 entries received from media students and trainee journalists.

However, only two journalists were shortlisted for the Business Journalist award – with the judges saying that they were “surprised that many entrants regarded re-hashed press releases” as being worthy of entry.

Altogether, just over 200 entries were submitted for the awards from across the region.

“At a time when journalists, nationwide, are still concerned over redundancies and title closures, it is encouraging to note that the awards still have as much appeal as ever,” said Llewela Bailey, chairman of Birmingham Press Club, which has been organising the Midlands Media Awards for the past 15 years.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Blogger/Columnist of the Year:
Anton Rippon, Derby Telegraph
Cheryl Hague, Derby Telegraph
Gary Newbon, Birmingham Mail/Coventry Telegraph
Jenny Amphlett, The Sentinel
Mike Lockley, Birmingham Mail
Peter Rhodes, Express and Star
Ross Hawkes, Lichfield Live.

Business Journalist:  
End Mullen, Coventry Telegraph
Les Reid, Coventry Observer

Campaign of the Year:
Tamworth Herald’s Forgotten Warrior
Tamworth Herald/Lichfield Mercury’s Save the Hospital Unit
The Sentinel’s Stoke-on-Trent City of Culture Bid
Birmingham Mail’s Justice for the 21
Birmingham Mail’s Pay for Hospice’s Christmas Day.
Express and Star’s Zombie Knives Campaign

Digital/Online Journalist:
Caroline Lowbridge, BBC East Midlands
James Sharpe, Leicester Mercury
Annette Belcher, Birmingham Mail
Antonia Bannister, Coventry Telegraph
Graham Young, Birmingham Mail
Rebecca Burrows, ITV Central

Features Journalist:
Amy Bowen, Central Independent Newspapers
Andie Darlington, Taste the Seasons
Jessica Labhart, Express and Star
Justine Halifax, Birmingham Mail
Mike Lockley, Sunday Mercury
Richard Ault, The Sentinel
Zoe Chamberlain, Birmingham Mail

Magazine/Supplement:
ArtsBeat (Amanda Penman)
Birmingham 2022 (Paul Cole)
Birmingham Living (Jonathan Carter)
Midlands Business Insider (Ian Griffin)
Venture (Kathryn Emerson)
Shropshire Business (Carl Jones)

Newcomer of the Year:
Jack Furness, The Sentinel
Jordan Coussins, Central Independent Newspapers
Gemma Davies, Quidem Radio
Michael McCann, Staffordshire University
Rhea Turner, Burton Mail
Oliver Hills, Birmingham Updates

News Reporter (Daily):
Enda Mullen, Coventry Telegraph
Jeanette Oldham, Birmingham Mail
Neil Elkes, Birmingham Post & Mail
Isaac Crowson, Derby Telegraph
Jack Averty, Express and Star
Helen Kreft, Burton Mail

News Reporter (Weekly)
Adam Smith, Halesowen News
Beverley Holder, Stourbridge News
Jordan Coussins, Central Independent Newspapers
Mike Lockley, Sunday Mercury
Nicholas Reid, Tamworth Herald
Sam Jones, Tamworth Herald
Sanjeeta Baines, Birmingham Post

Newspaper of the Year:
Birmingham Mail
Burton Mail
Derby Telegraph
Express and Star
Hereford Times
Hinckley Times
Sunday Mercury
Tamworth Herald

Radio Journalist of the Year:
Alex Hulse, Global Radio
Laura Chiverton, Global Radio
Laura Scigliano, Gem 106
Jennie Aitken, BBC Radio Stoke
Louise Easton, Free Radio
Rob Trigg, Free Radio

Sports Journalist of the Year:
Steve Clamp, ITV Central
Michael Sibert, ITV Central
Geoff Berkeley, Worcester News
James Sharpe, Leicester Mercury
Lewis Cox, Express and Star
Simon Gilbert, Coventry Telegraph

Story of the Year:
An Afghan interpreter’s journey (Audrey Dias, BBC Midlands Today)
Racism in football (Michael McCann, Staffordshire University)
NHS prescription fraud (Jonathan Gibson, BBC Inside Out West Midlands))
Horrors of Aston Hall (Isaac Crowson, Derby Telegraph)
Death on the Freezing Street –tragedy of rough sleeper (Birmingham Mail)
Tesco Pricing (Jonathan Gibson, BBC Inside Out West Midlands)

Television Journalist:
David Gregory-Kumar, BBC Midlands Today
Mike Prince, Made in Birmingham TV
Jonathan Gibson, BBC Inside Out West Midlands
Mark Gough and Michael Sibert, both of ITV Central
Sian Grzeszczyk, BBC Midlands Today

Tony Flanagan Photographer of the Year:
Darren Quinton, Trinity Mirror
Graham Young, Birmingham Mail
Nick Wilkinson, Birmingham Mail
Richard T Harris, Central Independent Newspapers
Steve Bould, The Sentinel
Tim Easthope, Birmingham Mail
Tim Thursfield, Express and Star