Your Sunday best is the best in Scotland… and that’s official

THE Sunday Post has been hailed as Scotland’s Newspaper of the Year after winning a series of awards at the press industry’s Oscars.

Reporter Gordon Blackstock had his work recognised by the judges of the 39th Scottish Press Awards. He won the night’s biggest awards after breaking the story of a mass grave at an orphanage where up to 400 children may have been buried in secret.

His reports into the Smyllum home won Scoop of the Year while that investigation and others into off-shore investments and charity fraud won him both Reporter of the Year and Journalist of the Year.

Awards host Stephen Jardine told the audience: “The judges faced some difficult choices due to the very high standard of entries, demonstrating the vibrancy of the Scottish newspaper industry and its huge wealth of talent.

“The standout was an utterly compelling story giving a voice –and a name – to 400 children who died at Smyllum House. This was painstaking, powerful and purposeful reporting.”

Our front-page, which, for the first time, named each of the children thought to be buried at the orphanage, won Front Page of the Year while our coverage was hailed by judges at the ceremony, at the Hilton DoubleTree, Glasgow, on Thursday, when we were named Newspaper of the Year.

They said: “We felt that such was the strength of the paper’s treatment of the story that it deserved the top accolade.”

Our reporter Marion Scott was also recognised when she was runner-up for the Nicola Barry Award for her campaigning work with rape victim Denise Clair.

Our reporter Kieran Andrews won Campaign of the Year for his work at our sister title The Courier on Frank’s Law. Sean Wallace won Sports News Writer of the Year for his stories at another of our sister titles, the Evening Express in Aberdeen.

The Sunday Post editor Richard Prest said: “We are delighted to be delivering the best newspaper in Scotland to our readers.”