WalesOnline has been named News Website of the Year at the Wales Media Awards for the third year running.
The industry award was presented at a ceremony at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Cardiff, hosted by broadcasters Lucy Owen and Jonathan Hill.
Judges praised WalesOnline for its compelling reading whose “high-quality journalism throws light on the richness, diversity and, at times, the bleak underbelly of life in Wales.”
“This website demonstrates a range of stories, from the hard hitting and the investigative to the light hearted,” the panel said.
Our win marked a spectacular night, with trophies for individual journalists from WalesOnline and other titles owned by our parent company Reach.
WalesOnline’s editor in chief Paul Rowland said: "We're all thrilled to retain our website of the year award, which is testament to so much hard work from everyone in the team.
"I'm also really proud to see so many of our exceptional individuals recognised, and particularly Will Hayward's journalist of the year success, which is a fitting accolade for an outstanding young reporter."
Nine of the 23 trophies on offer went to WalesOnline and Reach writers and titles.
Mark Orders from WalesOnline was named sports journalist of the year. Judges said Mark's style makes for an “effortless read” and he “creates a sense of personality and place”.
Will Hayward from WalesOnline won newspaper journalist of the year and journalist of the year for stories covering topics such as domestic abuse and the staffing crisis facing the Welsh NHS . Will was praised for his perseverance and a determination to get to the heart of the story.
Ruth Mosalski from WalesOnline was named feature writer of the year, with judges highlighting her “impressive writing” and well thought-through pieces.
The community journalism of the year award went to Swansea-based Liz Perkins . The judging panel commended Liz on her tenacity in fighting to ensure stories get told, regardless of whether or not they “usually do well” online.
Jonathan Myers was named news photographer of the year for work including intimate images of drug addicts and pictures using drone technology to reveal how the dry summer of 2018 affected reservoirs.
Lydia Morris of North Wales Live and the Daily Post was named young journalist of the year
This is a young journalist with a very bright future, agreed the judges.
The Daily Post won the daily/Sunday newspaper of the year award with its “comprehensive and sensitive” coverage of the death of Carl Sargeant and “stand out coverage of Storm Emma” praised.
The Wales Media Awards are organised by Spencer David on behalf of the Journalists’ Charity in Wales with the support of a range of sponsors and partners.
A full list of the winners can be seen at the Wales Media Awards website.
