Applications Open For Local Ireland Media Awards
Friday 14th February 2020: Journalists in Local Ireland member titles all over the country are being asked to enter their scoops 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.
Award categories and judging criteria
1. News Story of the Year
This can be a single story on a single topic.
The winner will be the journalist who produces a news story with a local focus which is well written and structured and generates a high level of response from the local community. Attracting national coverage/attention would also be advantageous.
Maximum of 2 samples of work to be submitted together with a summary of the impact of the entry
2. News Series of the Year
This can be a series of stories related to the same topic.
The winner will be the journalist who produces a news series with a local focus which is well written and structured and generates a high level of response from the local community. Attracting national coverage/attention would also be advantageous.
Maximum of 2 samples of work to be submitted together with a summary of the impact of each entry
3. Feature Story of the Year
This can be a single story or a series of articles on a single topic.
It can include human interest, lifestyle, local personality profiles, social interest stories or other topics outside of the news and sports categories.
The winner will be the journalist who produces a story with a local focus which is relevant, well written and structured and brings good insight to the topic.
Maximum of 2 samples of work to be submitted together with a summary of the impact of each entry
4. Sports Journalist of the Year
This can be a single story or a series of articles on a single topic.
It can include match reports, sports profiles, and series of articles on a season/campaign or any other topic of sporting interest.
The winner will be the journalist who produces a story with a local focus which is relevant, well written and structured and brings good insight to the topic.
Maximum of 3 samples of work to be submitted together with a summary of the impact of each entry
5. National Lottery Best Community Story of the Year
This will be awarded to the news story or feature that best captures community spirit and the impact of local people working together to make a difference.
Maximum of 3 samples of work to be submitted together with a summary of the impact of each entry
6. Best Supplement of the Year
The winner will be the newspaper that produces an editorial/advertorial supplement of outstanding quality combining excellent editorial and advertising content, good design and quality reproduction. Supplements can be either part of the main newspaper edition or stand alone offerings.
Maximum of 3 samples of work to be submitted by post to; Johnny O’Hanlon, Local Ireland, Latt, Cavan, H12D9X9.
7. Photograph of the Year
This award will be presented to the photographer who will present a remarkable picture with excellent composition which is well-placed in a local newspaper.
Maximum of 6 samples of work to be submitted in jpeg format
8. Best Use of Photography
The winner will be the publication which best demonstrates how it uses photography to illustrate news or sport stories or features, or uses photography on its own to tell compelling stories.
Maximum of six samples of work to be submitted in pdf format
9. Best Designed Front Page
The category will recognise the impact of an appealing front page. Essential to this will be a strong page layout, excellent headlines coupled with eye catching photography, good captions and relevant graphics.
Maximum of three editions of work to be submitted by post to; Johnny O’Hanlon, Local Ireland, Latt, Cavan, H12D9X9
10. Best Advertising Campaign
The winner will be an advertising campaign for a single, local or national client which makes best use of local print media to deliver its messages. It may include clearly identified advertorial.
Maximum of 6 samples of work to be submitted
11. Best Local Advertisement
This will be a single stand-out advertisement for a local client which displays excellent copy-writing, design and reproduction in print or digitally
Maximum of 6 samples of work to be submitted
12. Best Digital Content
The award will go to the local newspaper which demonstrates how its digital offerings enhance its print editions by expanding its total audience, increasing engagement and growing revenue.
No more than 5 entries per title- in supporting your application please provide links to not more than 5 online platforms
It can include a newspaper’s website, social media, digital editions, apps or any combinations or parts thereof. Maximum of 6 samples of work to be submitted
13. Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is not open for entries and will be selected by a panel from the executive of Local Ireland.
Friday 14th February 2020: 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 across the country, offering local news to approximately 1.5 million readers each week outside Dublin and Cork.
Stories published in Local Ireland titles during the period February 2019 and January 2020 are eligible for entry and all submissions be accepted via the Local Ireland website until Friday 12th June ’20.
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, PJ Cunningham, Journalist and Author; Valerie Cox, broadcaster and former Sean O’Rourke Show reporter; 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 October (Date TBD) and the MC for the event will be Marty Whelan, broadcaster and presenter of the National Lottery TV game show, Winning Streak.
Commenting on the launch of this year’s Local Ireland Media Awards, David Ryan, President, Local Ireland, said: “The high level of entries over the last three years – averaging nearly 400 a year – is a powerful indicator of the vitality and importance of this section of Irish media. These awards have been designed to recognize and honour the work of journalists, designers and advertising staff, masters of their craft – who work tirelessly and with great enthusiasm every week to produce the very best content for their readers. The past year has seen some extraordinary developments in society and politics, despite all this change local newspaper readers know that they can rely on and trust the content in their local paper. We look forward to announcing our shortlist later this year and celebrating these awards next May.”
Speaking on sponsoring the Local Ireland Media Awards, for the third consecutive year, Paul Bradley, Head of PR and Corporate Communications, National Lottery said:
“We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Local Ireland Media Awards. This sponsorship is a natural fit for the National Lottery. 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. Local newspapers are a cornerstone of communities across Ireland. By playing National Lottery games, the public is also supporting community projects all over the country through our Good Causes fund. Almost 30 cent in every Euro spent on our games goes back in the areas of health, sport, arts, culture, heritage, youth, community and the Irish language. Last year more than €250 million was raised for Good Causes – the equivalent of over €680,000 a day.”
The full list of categories for this year’s Local Ireland Media Awards are as follows:
Media Awards Categories 2020
- News Story of the Year
- Feature Story of the Year
- Best news series of the Year
- Sports Journalist of the Year
- National Lottery Best Community Story
- Best 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
For more information about the 2020 Local Ireland Media Awards please contact:
Johnny O’Hanlon at johanlon@localireland.info
Telephone; 087/272739
For more information on the National Lottery please contact:
Robert Magee
robert.magee@lottery.ie
087 670 6826
Rules
- The competition is open only to newspapers which are registered members of Local Ireland (The Regional Newspapers and Printers Association of Ireland) at 31st January 2020.
- Entries for all nomination categories must have first appeared in the relevant local newspaper’s print or online versions between 1st February 2019 and 31st January 2020.
- The closing date for entries is Friday 20th March 20th at 5.00 pm.
- All pdf/Jpeg entries must be received online at https://www.localireland.info/award-entry . Each pdf must show page folio and entrant’s byline. In the case of entries for Photograph of the Year category entrants are requested to file jpegs only.
- Each newspaper may enter all categories, however journalists may only submit a maximum of two entries each in categories 1-3 and 3 entries in categories 4 and 5. Photographers and advertising departments may submit up to 6 entries in their respective categories.
- All entries from member titles are free of charge
- Entries will be judged by an independent panel of judges appointed by Local Ireland.
- The judges’ decisions will be final and the judges will not enter into debate on their selections with anyone.
