Bath Chronicle named Paid-for Weekly Newspaper of the Year

Northcliffe Media's Bath Chronicle won the biggest prize in its history by being voted as the UK’s Best Weekly Newspaper. The title picked up the top award at the Newspaper Society’s Weekly Awards, held on November 27, 2008, and the honour crowned a very successful night for Northcliffe Media.

In a year of awards success for the Bath Chronicle, editor Sam Holliday said this was the biggest and most satisfying accolade yet: "We are delighted for every member of the Chronicle staff who has contributed to helping us win this award. When we re-launched the Chronicle as a weekly, we ambitiously told our readers we would produce the best such paper in Britain – and now we can say that we have.”

Earlier in the evening the Chronicle was named Newspaper of the Year in Wales and the South West (Paid-for), while the Clevedon Mercury won the equivalent prize for the free weeklies.

In a night of triumph, not only did the Chronicle and the Mercury achieve national recognition but Alex Ross of the Weston and Worle News was chosen as the News Journalist of the Year in the free paper category and was described by judges as being "a great young writer with a great future". Helen Machin of the Tamworth Herald was named News Journalist of the Year in the paid-for category, while the award for Feature Journalist of the Year (Free) went to Robert Bridge of the Walsall Advertiser.

Northcliffe photographers also took home honours with the Lichfield Mercury's Allan Williamson winning both the Photographer of the Year (Free) and Sports Photographer of the Year (Free) awards. The Sports Photographer of the Year (Paid-for) award went to Laura Jones of the Western Gazette.

The awards ceremony was hosted by joint managing director of the Newark Advertiser Joanna Parlby and presented by Northcliffe Media’s managing director Michael Pelosi, who is also president of the Newspaper Society.