Thursday 6th 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.

Local Ireland – the representative association for weekly local newspapers, print and online – welcomes the Budget 2019 announcements for the sector from the Minister for Finance, Mr Paschal Donohoe T.D.

Journalism Matters Week is a coordinated effort, led by Local Ireland and NewsBrands Ireland, the representative bodies for the local and national newspapers, and is designed to highlight the vital role the press plays in a vibrant democracy and to call on the government to support a number of measures being sought by the newspaper industry to ensure its survival.