Between Ray Tindle making launches and Sly Bailey disclaiming further closures, the regional press news around here is starting to look suspiciously cheerful. But word that the 2010 Regional Press Awards are cancelled may restore some gloom.
Wilmington Group – which retained the awards when it first closed and then sold Press Gazette last year – says it concluded they would "not be viable" this year. Its event director Doug Marshall is quoted by Press Gazette as saying that several publishers had "felt unable to commit" to entering, although they had "appreciated our proposal to reduce entry fees and ticket prices".
Wilmington remains, Marshall says, "committed to liaising with the industry regarding future years" – which doesn't commit them to too much.
