17-02-2025
County Press shortlisted for prestigious award for third year running
The Isle of Wight County Press has been shortlisted in the prestigious Newspaper Awards for the third year running.
The newsroom is celebrating after making the shortlist in the Weekly Newspaper of the Year category.
It is up against the Salisbury Journal, The Impartial Reporter, The Oxford Times, Cambridge Independent, and the New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times.
The 2025 Newspaper Awards is focused entirely on recognising excellence in the printed newspaper.
Winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony at the London Hilton Bankside on April 2.
County Press editor Lori Little said: "We are thrilled to be recognised by the industry by being shortlisted for the third year running.
"It means not only are we the biggest selling local weekly newspaper in the country, we can say with confidence that we are also one of the best.
"This is thanks to our fantastic team of local journalists who care about the Island and want to tell stories that matter, and the Islanders who regularly engage with us.
"Our newspaper is 80 to 88 pages each week packed full of news, and we are constantly making changes to improve it, from our eye-catching front pages to new additions such as our new features focussing on pubs, chefs and walks.
"Thanks to everyone who supports us by reading our trusted news whether that is online or in print, or both!"
Last week, verified ABC figures confirmed the County Press is still selling more copies than any other local weekly paper.
Sales figures for the County Press are externally audited and verified at 8,940 a week, with every copy sold accounted for accurately. This is despite print newspaper sales being in decline across the industry.
The CP has a weekly print readership of more than 31,000 and our brand reaches more than 122,000 on a monthly basis across print and digital, according to the JICREG data as of September 2024.
Soaring online figures from 2024 were recently confirmed as a record-breaking year for — which is officially the Island's most popular and most read news website.
January 2025 was a record-breaking month online for both page views and page visits, recording 3.35 million page views and 1.912 million visits (source: SimilarWeb).
