The Courier has landed 10 nominations at this year’s Scottish Press Awards – including four for our coverage of the Sam Eljamel scandal.
Disgraced NHS Tayside doctor Eljamel harmed hundreds of patients in our communities between 1995 and 2013.
We stood side by side the victims of the rogue neurosurgeon – who has fled to his native Libya – during their successful fight for a public inquiry and refused to let the authorities off the hook.
Justin Bowie’s exclusive stories on the issue have earned our politics correspondent a nomination for regional journalist of the year, while our Eljamel reporting has also led to campaign of the year, journalism team of the year and front page of the year nods.
The Courier’s news coverage of last October’s Storm Babet, which devastated the town of Brechin and several other of our local areas, is up for best coverage of a live event.
Gayle Ritchie and Alasdair Clark are nominated for feature writer of the year and regional journalist of the year respectively, while The Stooshie – brought to you by DC Thomson’s politics team – is in contention for podcast of the year.
School bullying coverage
Meanwhile, our education correspondent Cheryl Peebles is nominated in the specialist reporter of the year category.
She is recognised for three exclusive reports on school bullying, including an interview with the family at the centre of a Fife classroom assault video that shocked the nation.
Cheryl also told the story Kaylynn Donald, a brave Bell Baxter High School pupil attacked on a school bus the day after learning her grandfather had died.
The Courier data journalist Ema Sabljak is also on the shortlist after earning a young journalist of the year nomination.
Ema’s entries include her deep dive into the fortunes of Perth city centre and an investigation revealing dementia deaths in Dundee and Fife have more than tripled from 2000 to 2022.
Her recognition comes just days after DC Thomson’s data team bagged a WAN-IFRA Europe award for best data visualisation thanks to their health of our high streets project.
‘Our mission’
David Clegg, Editor of The Courier, said: “I am absolutely delighted to see the hard work, talent and dedication of our news and features teams acknowledged in these awards.
“It is particularly gratifying to see recognition of our investigative journalism into the scandal surrounding NHS Tayside surgeon Sam Eljamel. Our team’s unwavering commitment to shedding light on the trauma endured by his patients led to a successful campaign for a public inquiry.
“These nominations across various categories serve as a validation of our efforts to hold accountable those responsible and seek justice for the affected individuals.
“We are delighted to have our work acknowledged in this manner and will continue our mission to produce high quality journalism that serves and celebrates our local communities.”
Conversation