Applications now open for fifth Local Ireland Media Awards

Journalists in local newspapers all over the country are being asked to enter their best scoops and stories into the fifth annual Local Ireland Media Awards.

These awards honour the talents of the hundreds of journalists, photographers, designers and advertising executives involved in producing local weekly titles, both print and digital. The awards are sponsored for the third consecutive year by the National Lottery.

The Local Ireland Media Awards, now in their fifth year, will feature 13 categories spanning all areas and disciplines of modern journalism including news, sport, features, advertising, design and online

Local Ireland is the voice and representative association for 46 local weekly titles – including the Connacht Tribune – across the country, offering local news to approximately 1.5 million readers each week outside Dublin and Cork.

Stories published in Local Ireland titles between February 2019 and January 2020 are eligible for entry and all submissions be accepted via the Local Ireland website until Friday, March 22.

Once again this year there will be a special National Lottery category for the journalist or newspaper that has given the best coverage to a community issue or good cause.

The awards deliberations will be undertaken by a judging panel chaired by noted journalist and academic, Dr. Jane Suiter, Director of the Institute for Future Media (FuJo) and Associate Professor in the School of Communications, DCU.

Other judges include Michael Foley, Professor Emeritus, TU Dublin, journalist and author PJ Cunningham; broadcaster Valerie Cox; Frank Miller, former Irish Times pictures editor and Dr. Dawn Wheatley, School of Communications, DCU.

The Awards ceremony and gala dinner will take place in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone, on Thursday, May 21, when the MC for the event will be Marty Whelan.

National Lottery Head of PR and Corporate Communications Paul Bradley said they saw sponsorship of the awards as a natural fit.

“Just like local newspapers, we are embedded in communities all over Ireland. Buying your local weekly newspaper goes hand-in-hand with buying a Lottery ticket. We are excited to see submissions that demonstrate the incredible local journalism that is happening throughout Ireland,” he said.

Media Awards Categories 2020

News Story;

Feature Story;

Best News Series;

Sports Journalist of the Year;

National Lottery Best Community Story;

Supplement of the Year;

Photographer of the Year;

Best Use of Photography;

Best Designed Front Page;

Best Advertising Campaign (print and digital);

Best Local Advertisement;

Best Digital Content;

Lifetime Achievement Award.