03-04-2025
County Press praised for its strong news coverage at Newspaper Awards
The Isle of Wight County Press was praised for its rich mix of stories and strong news coverage at the prestigious Newspaper Awards last night (Wednesday).
The paper was one of six shortlisted in the Best Local Weekly Newspaper category - with Newsquest sister paper the Impartial Reporter taking the prize.
The County Press was commended, with judges saying: "Celebrating 140 years in print, this paper continues to offer great value with its rich mix of stories and strong news coverage."
Gary Cullum, director of the awards, said print is still "a force to be reckoned with" and the mission remains unchanged despite the digital revolution transforming news.
CP editor Lori Little, front right, with Newsquest colleagues at the Newspaper Awards (Image: Isle of Wight County Press) CP editor Lori Little said: "We are all absolutely thrilled that the Isle of Wight County Press has been recognised by the industry as one of the best local weekly newspapers in the country.
"We're already the best-selling and we can say we're among the very best too.
"It is testament to our dedicated team of professionally trained reporters who go out and about in our community to meet people and tell their stories.
"We pack our 80-page newspaper with exclusives and interesting features, and we listen to all the feedback we are given.
"This year we've made huge design and layout changes to our print product.
"We've also put the IW County Press on the map... within the last week I've been flying the flag for the paper, and the Island, at both Buckingham Palace where I met the King and at Downing Street where I met the Prime Minister.
Read more: County Press editor invited to 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister
Read more: County Press talks trusted news with the King at Buckingham Palace reception
"Thanks to everyone who buys the CP - you are directly contributing to the delivery of trusted news to the Island and keeping this heritage brand alive."
The Newspaper Awards was held at the London Hilton Bankside.
Online, we retain our position as the Island's biggest news website by quite some margin.
SimilarWeb showed in February we recorded 3.008 million page views when the second biggest website recorded 1.231 million.
Our visits for February were 1.789 million when the second biggest website recorded 925,817.
