For the second year in a row, the local newspaper serving Moray, the Northern Scot, has been voted Newspaper of the Year by the Highland and Islands Media Awards' judging panel. The weekly paper was deemed to have maintained its high standards over the past 12 months, with exceptional coverage of the Arlene Fraser murder trial. Northern Scot Photographer Eric Cormack is the Local Newspaper Photographer of the Year. To complete a hat-trick of Elgin successes, Peter Jones, who runs the Moray News Agency, won the Reporter of the Year award.

A neighbouring community paper, The Touler, won the Community Newspaper of the Year. Established in June 1999, it comes out quarterly and covers Tomintoul as well as Glenlivet and Inveravon.

Young Journalist of the Year is Ally McGilvray of the John O'Groat Journal, Wick, whose colleague Corrina Thomson, was highly commended in the Features' section.

The Highland News recorded two successes with Claire Doughty being Feature Writer of the Year and Donald Fraser, highly commended in the Reporter of the Year section. There was also a double success for the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, with Gavin Musgrove being Local Newspaper Reporter of the Year and Jane Candlish, highly commended in the Young Journalist of the Year section.

Donald Wilson of the Inverness Courier was highly commended in the Local Newspaper Reporter of the Year. The Sports Writer of the Year Award  went to Robert Leslie, of Orkney Today, and highly commended was Jim Tait, Shetland Times.

Photographer of the Year is John Baikie, a freelance from Castletown, Caithness. Highly commended was Trevor Martin, an Inverness freelance. Highly commended in the Local Photographer of the Year section was Phil Downie, freelance, Kirkhill near Inverness.