Double success for The Northern Scot as photographer Beth Taylor and reporter Ewan Malcolm scoop awards at Highlands and Islands Media Awards
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THE Northern Scot scooped a double award win at the Highlands and Islands Media Awards on Friday night.
Photographer Beth Taylor and reporter Ewan Malcolm won awards at the ceremony, which took place at the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness.
Aberlour-based Ewan (25) was named Business Reporter of the Year, while Elgin's Beth Taylor (24) was named as Photographer of the Year.
The duo are both in their maiden full-time jobs in the industry, with Ewan having started at the paper in late 2021 and Beth in the summer of 2022.
Joe Millican, joint-content editor, said: "To pick up two trophies at the Highlands and Islands Media Awards is a fantastic achievement and great testament to the hard work of not just Beth and Ewan but also all of our reporters and photographers over the past year.
"Both Beth and Ewan epitomise the high quality of work that our team puts in across all of our newspapers and websites and we are all extremely happy for them both.
"To have had five nominations across such a wide breadth of categories – including two of the top three photographers in the north of Scotland – is something we are extremely proud of."
Beth's nomination consisted of six pictures – one of King Charles visiting Moray, another of the Clavie, then snaps of a dancing troupe and a tug-of-war team.
The last two photos were of boxer Fraser Wilkinson celebrating a win and Highland League side Keith celebrating a cup victory over Buckie Thistle.
Beth said: "I'm overwhelmed and honoured to win Photographer of the Year. I'm so grateful to everyone for giving me the opportunities at work."
Ewan's three business stories were about redundancies at the Findhorn Foundation, Spey Bay Golf Course being bought over and the affect of the deposit return scheme on Moray businesses.
He added: "It was a great honour to win an award. I'd like to thank content editors Chris Saunderson and Joe Millican for all their support over the last two and a half years."
In total, Highland News and Media picked up four awards. The Inverness Courier won Website of the Year, while Inverness-based Iona MacDonald was named Young Reporter of the Year.
The Highlands and Islands Media Awards will benefit four local charities – CHAS Children’s Hospices Across Scotland; SIMBA which supports families who have suffered baby loss; Discovery College, which helps people gain a deeper understanding of wellbeing and mental health and the Journalists’ Charity, which supports journalists nationwide.
The ball has now raised nearly £120,000 for good causes, with all the money staying in the Highlands and Islands.
