Newspaper of the Year accolade for Shetland Times

The Shetland Times has been named Highlands and Islands Newspaper of the Year at the regional press ball in Inverness.

Judges were impressed by the newspaper’s entry which included coverage of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory blaze, the busy week in July when the news pages featured a sudden death in Lerwick and house explosion in Brae, and a jam-packed edition that included the special Shetland Folk Festival coverage.

Also shortlisted in the category were The Orcadian and West Highland Free Press.

Shetland Times news editor Jim Tait was at the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness and collected the award on behalf of the newsroom. Editor Adam Civico said he was delighted for the whole Shetland Times team.

The newspaper last won the award in 2017, when it also picked up the “Best Use of Digital Media” prize.

Mr Civico said: “It is a privilege to work with such a dedicated and talented team and I’m thrilled that the newspaper has again collected this award. It is recognition of the hard work of all involved.

“Everybody from the newsroom right through to the printers deserves to share in this success, which I believe reflects the way that we go about covering all aspects of life in the isles.

“It is a challenging time for the news industry and Shetland is a competitive patch but it is great to get this kind of recognition for our newspaper.

“We are rooted in the community and are proud to write, produce and print the newspaper in Lerwick.”

Mr Civico added that he wished to congratulate all the shortlisted Shetland journalists, especially young reporter Ryan Nicolson who he said had compiled a strong portfolio of work since starting at the newspaper a year ago.

Judging panel chairman Gordon Fyfe previously said: “The media awards recognise and reward the best in journalism across our dispersed area which stretches from Shetland to Argyll and from Moray to the Outer Hebrides.

“Once again, we were delighted with the number and high standard of entries and choosing a shortlist has been an extremely difficult task.”