The Northern Scot, Elgin, has notched up three successes in this year's Highlands and Islands Media Awards. The Scot is Newspaper of the Year for the second time in three years and it registered two further successes with Eric Cormack, winning the Local Newspaper Photographer of the Year Award and Chris Saunderson, Sports Reporter of the Year Award.

Last week, Northern Scot editor Pauline Taylor was named as the winner of the Barron Trophy, for outstanding services to journalism.

The Community Newspaper of the Year is Fios, which serves Ness in Lewis. 

Reporter of the Year is Corinna Thomson, who took the eye with a series of investigative reports for the John O' Groat Journal. Highly commended was Sue Restan, who covers the Sutherland area for the Press and Journal.

Feature writer of the year is Bruce Sandison, a freelance writer from Tongue, Sutherland.   Highly commenced was Lorraine Shearer, Orcadian, who was also highly commended in the Local Newspaper Reporter of the Year category, won by Val Sweeney of the Inverness Courier.

The trophy for Young Journalist of the Year - donated by Alex Main, retired editor of the Inverness Courier - has been won by Kennedy Stewart from the Shetland Post, who pipped  Ally McGilvray, John O'Groat Journal, for the award.

John Paul, a freelance photographer from Inverness, won the Photographer of the Year award. Trevor Martin, also Inverness, was highly commended.

The top award - the Classic Malts Journalist of the Year - will be announced at the award ceremony being held on Friday, 7 February at the Newton Hotel, Nairn.

Sponsors, Diageo, have put up prize money of £2,000 for the awards, now in their 12th year.

The judges were Gordon Fyfe, The Highland Council (chairman); Charlie Whelan, newspaper columnist and commentator; John Ross, Scotsman, David Ross, Herald, and Donald MacNeill, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, who co-sponsor the awards.