NewsBrands Ireland has confirmed that its Journalism Awards will take place again this year, with the National Lottery on board as main sponsor of the programme.
The 2016 Journalism Awards will feature a total of 25 categories spanning all areas and disciplines of modern journalism including news, analysis, opinion, features, business, politics, crime and more. This year’s awards feature a number of revised and new categories such as Features and Columnist of the Year for both broadsheet and popular, Digital Innovation and Story of the Year in politics, business and crime.
The 2016 judging panel will be made up of a range of high profile journalists and editors, chaired by Professor John Horgan, former Press Ombudsman of Ireland.
The eligibility period for this year’s NewsBrands Ireland Journalism Awards is from January 1st 2015 to June 30th 2016, and the Awards will take place on Thursday, November 3rd 2016.
Commenting on the launch of this year’s Journalism Awards, Vincent Crowley of NewsBrands Ireland said: “We’re really pleased to welcome back an expanded and even more inclusive Journalism Awards for 2016, at a time when the quality of Irish journalism is attracting more people than ever to our newspapers and news media sites.
“Original content is what sets the newspaper apart from all other media and it is appropriate that we have a forum through which to honour and celebrate the journalists who create that content,” Mr Crowley added. “Our last awards in 2013 attracted a record total of almost 800 individual entries and I expect the quality and quantity of this year’s entry to surpass that.”
Dermot Griffin, Chief Executive of Premier Lotteries Ireland, operator of the National Lottery, said: “As the National Lottery enters its 30th year, we are delighted to support the 2016 NewsBrands Ireland Journalism Awards and proud to be associated with this wonderful showcase of original Irish journalism. We expect high quality entries across the print and digital spectrum and look forward to the awards ceremony in November.”