1.
Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson Media and Edinburgh-based Holyrood Communications were the dominant forces at this year's Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Scotland annual awards – between them winning nine (50%) of the 18 categories.

At the awards ceremony, staged at the Oran Mor in Glasgow on 1 December, DC Thomson Media won five awards and Holyrood Communications triumphed in four categories. And they each collected a highly commended accolade from the judges, whom curiously, only handed out an overall total of three.

PPA Scotland is the membership body for Scotland's magazine publishing industry – representing around 250 companies ranging from consumer magazine publishers to business-to-business data and information providers, customer magazine publishers and smaller independents. Its awards are designed to 'recognise, celebrate and elevate the achievements and progress made by teams and individuals across the Scottish publishing and media industry'.

DC Thomson Media notched up five top awards – 110% Gaming won the Consumer Publication category; the best Social Influencer award went to The Scots Magazine; Animal Planet took the Sustainability Initiative award; the Media Brand award was won by the Beano; and The People's Friend triumphed in the Podcast category. The Scots Magazine was highly commended in the Consumer Publication category.

Columnist of the Year is Mandy Rhodes, managing director of Holyrood Communications and editor of the fortnightly Holyrood magazine. It was a stellar award-winning evening for Holyrood – voted the best Business Publication; winner of the Photograph category; and its sales team triumphed in the Commercial Performance category. And the magazine's journalist Andrew Learmonth was highly commended in the fiercely fought Writer of the Year category.

On Mandy Rhodes's success as best Columnist, the judges commented: 'Speaking to a wider audience and beautifully capturing the raw emotions we have all felt, our winner made the judges think in an intellectual way. The winning entry displayed faultless writing, insights and honesty in a column that mixes the political and the personal to great effect'.

Shortlisted in this category were Michael McEwan, of DC Thomson Media's Bunkered golf magazine and Chitra Ramaswamy, of the National Trust for Scotland's Member Magazine.

Reflecting on her company's very impressive performance, Rhodes told Scottish Review: 'It takes a great team to produce a magazine of this quality and I have one of the best. The passion, commitment, talent and sheer hard work of everyone deserves to be recognised in these awards because we are all in it together. Very proud.

'I am also particularly pleased for freelance photographer Kevin Thomson who took the extraordinary photograph of the protest in Kenmure Street when Glaswegians came out in force to prevent the detention of two men seeking asylum by the UK immigration forces.

'The story of how we found the image, traced Kevin, and got the picture on the magazine's front cover with just hours before we went to print, captured all that I love about journalism and the power of print. Kevin, meanwhile, absolutely captured a moment of history.'



The best Writer title was won by Tom Seymour, of the Royal Photographic Society's RPS Journal. And in a double success story, the RPS Journal was judged the top Customer/Member Publication.

On Tom Seymour's triumph, the judges enthused: 'The winner is a journalist of true story-telling nature – whose words both draw the reader in and put them exactly in the place where the action is taking place. The stories are diverse and interesting – they make you want to read more; they help you know more; you leave feeling you have learned something and been taken on a journey!'

As well as Andrew Learmonth being highly commended, also shortlisted in the Writer category were Sam Bradley, The Drum; Gemma Fraser, 1919 Magazine; Liam Geraghty and Laura Kelly, The Big Issue; and Chris Marshall and Louise Wilson, Holyrood magazine.

There was also a double triumph for the National Trust for Scotland's publication At home with the Trust – winning the Brand Extension and Event categories.

The award for best Editor went to Sarah Speirs, editor of the CA Magazine – the publication of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. The shortlist also featured Paul McNamee, The Big Issue; Kathleen Morgan, RPS Journal; and Mandy Rhodes, Holyrood magazine.

On Sarah Speirs Editor's award, the judges pointed out: 'We felt that our winner has revitalised their magazine and has reacted to the [COVID-19] pandemic with sensitivity and an understanding of the needs of the audience. They have curated the content beautifully and added more advertisers during challenging times which should be commended'.

Amy Shearer, a reporter on the Greenock Telegraph, won the Young Journalist award. The judges said: 'Our winning writer showed clear promise… a willingness to push themselves has made them the standout winner this year – going beyond the publication and making full use of social media!'

Shortlisted were Eilidh Akilade, The Skinny; Katy Cutforth, LIFE, Alumni and Howden World, White Light Media; James Hanton, The Independent; and Hope Wilson, My Weekly.

Finally, to round off the news on the awards front, Claire Nelson, the chief executive of Netball Scotland, won the Media & Gender Equality category in the annual awards event run by Scottish Women in Sport (SWIS) in Glasgow on 26 November. Claire beat off the challenge of two prominent media folk – freelance journalist and broadcaster, Heather Dewar, and television director and producer and documentary maker, Margot McCuaig.

Here are the PPA Scotland 2021 award winners in all 18 categories:

Brand Extension
Winner: At home with the Trust, National Trust for Scotland. Think Publishing
Highly commended: The Week In Retail, 55 North

Business Publication
Winner: Holyrood magazine, Dods Group

Columnist
Winner: Mandy Rhodes, editor of Holyrood. Dods Group

Commercial Performance
Winner: Holyrood, Dods Group

Consumer Publication
Winner: 110% Gaming, DC Thomson Media
Highly commended: The Scots Magazine, DC Thomson Media

Customer/Member Publication
Winner: RPS Journal, Royal Photographic Society. Think Publishing

Designer
Winner: Matt McArthur, White Light Media

Editor
Winner: Sarah Speirs, CA Magazine. River Group Content

Event
Winner: At home with the Trust, National Trust for Scotland. Think Publishing

Launch/Relaunch
Winner: Greater Govanhill magazine, Greater Govanhill CIC

Magazine Cover
Winner: 1.. 2.. 3.. Action!, Historic Scotland. Think Publishing

Media Brand
Winner: Beano, DC Thomson Media

Photograph
Winner: 'Kenmure Street', Holyrood. Dods Group

Podcast
Winner: The People's Friend – 'Reading Between the Lines'. DC Thomson Media

Social Influencer
Winner: The Scots Magazine, DC Thomson Media

Sustainability Initiative
Winner: Animal Planet, DC Thomson Media.

Writer
Winner: Tom Seymour, RPS Journal. Think Publishing
Highly commended: Andrew Learmonth, Holyrood. Dods Group

Young Journalist
Winner: Amy Shearer, Greenock Telegraph

2.
The winners in this year's British Journalism Awards, run by leading media industry website, Press Gazette, will be announced in London today. We will bring you a full report on the awards next week.

3.
More journalists are now working across the UK than at any point in the past decade, according to new research. Analysis by marketing firm, PAN Communications, also reveals there are almost 12,300 more journalists than PR professionals.

Latest Office for National Statistics labour market figures show that 112,300 people are currently working as journalists, comprising 56,400 women and 55,900 men. By contrast, the report, compiled between July 2020 and June 2021, reveals there are 100,137 people working in public relations.

PAN Communications managing director, Gareth Thomas, told PR Week: 'People's appetite for trusted news actually grew significantly during the pandemic. And yet, even with this rebound in journalism, I think it is also fair to say it is taking more skill and craft to ensure client stories become news. Across the board, the bar for earned stories has been set higher. A spray and pray approach to issuing news has never been a great strategy – but at a time when there is so much hard news around, it is essential to be selective with the stories you choose to share'.

He added: 'Brands that are doing these things well are riding the recovery in journalism and still able to generate valuable earned coverage. They are also tracking impact through power of voice – rather than a purely volume-based share of voice as a key metric. This – combined with the fact that media appears to be rebounding – makes me very optimistic. Rumours of the death of journalism – and PR – have been much exaggerated'.

4.
Paul Fisher, managing editor of Newsquest Scotland's Ayrshire and Clyde Weekly Press titles, is joining Reach plc as launch editor of its Aberdeen Live website. HoldTheFront Page reports that Paul will be succeeded by his current deputy Gillian Murphy.

Paul will be joined at Aberdeen Live by DC Thomson Media's Dundee-based crime and courts reporter, Ciaran Shanks, who has worked for The Courier and Evening Telegraph titles for the past five years. Reach plc announced the launch of Aberdeen Live in the summer as part of a range of launches across Scotland which is reported to be creating 30 jobs.

Gillian Murphy began her career as a reporter in Melbourne, Australia, where she worked for the Herald Sun regional daily. On returning to Scotland, she joined the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald and has also worked for the Clydebank Post, Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter and the Helensburgh Advertiser.

5.
John McLellan, who has been director of the Scottish Newspaper Society since 2013, is to stand down from his role as a Conservative councillor on Edinburgh City Council to concentrate on his media and academic work.

A former editor of The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News, and a former director of communications for the Scottish Conservatives, John has been an Edinburgh councillor since 2017.

He told the Edinburgh Evening News: 'It has been fascinating to see the workings of the council from the inside after years of observing from the outside, but it has been increasingly difficult to combine council work with my other interests and family life'.

Although he hopes to continue as a columnist and commentator, he is set to play a very active role in taking forward the recommendations of the recent report on public interest journalism in Scotland.


6.
Legendary newspaper cartoonist 'Matt' has once again designed a special Christmas card exclusively for Journalists' Charity (JC) supporters. He has been supporting the JC in this very valuable and no[v]el way for a number of years. If you would like to help out the JC in its fundraising endeavours, you can purchase a pack of 10 for just £5, plus P&P: Click here!

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