Leigh Boobyer was named Local Democracy Reporter of the Year at the inaugural Local Democracy Reporter Conference and Awards, held at Media City Salford.
Judges said Leigh broke news that 鈥渆mbarrassed the authorities, interested readers and listeners and 鈥� in the best possible way 鈥� made himself a real irritant for figures that would prefer not to have been exposed to the public gaze鈥�.
Leigh, who is based at Reach Plc鈥檚 Gloucestershire Live newsroom, provides local democracy stories for a range of media organisations across the region.
Among the items of work that impressed the judges was an expose of police staff selling part-worn tyres from force vehicles for personal financial gain.
The story followed a six-month investigation and was published by news outlets including , the and the 大象传媒.
The full list of award winners at the June 25 event was:
- Best Broadcast or Use of Multimedia:
Winner: ; Highly-Commended: - Impact Story of the Year Award
Winner: ; Highly-Commended: - Best Use of Freedom of Information
Winner: ; Highly-Commended: - The Spotlight Award
Winner: ; Highly-Commended: - Scoop of the Year
Joint winners: and - Best Use of Social Media
Winner: ; Highly-Commended: - Local Democracy Reporter of the Year
Winner:
The conference was attended by more than 100 Local Democracy Reporters from across the United Kingdom, senior managers from the regional media and executives from 大象传媒 News.
The award ceremony concluded a day of presentations and workshops on topics such as best use of social media, Freedom of Information and smartphones for multi-media journalism.
David Holdstock, Director of Communications for the Local Government Association, also spoke to Local Democracy Reporters on the topic of relationships with local authority media teams.
The event concluded with a speech from Helen Thomas, Director of 大象传媒 England, who said it was a 鈥済reat privilege to be standing in a room of hard-working and dedicated journalists鈥�.
She added: 鈥淭he LDRS came at a time when local news has perhaps never been so important 鈥� and never so threatened.
鈥淟ocal reporting is part of the fabric of the UK. Not only informing communities and providing a second-to-none record of daily life, but also as a watchful vigil over our institutions and the people who run them.鈥�
鈥淚t [the LDRS] goes to show what is possible when journalists set their mind to something鈥� an organisation that has filed more than 80,000 stories, employing nearly 150 reporters and holding politicians and public bodies to account day-in-day-out like never before."