Double Midlands Media Awards triumph for Star columnist Toby
A Shropshire Star journalist has achieved a rare double at a prestigious awards ceremony.
Toby Neal was named Columnist of the Year at the Midlands Media Awards, held at Villa Park.
And he also picked up the President’s Award for achieving the highest judges’ score among the categories.
Toby is one of the Shropshire Star’s longest-serving journalists and provides regular insights into the history of the county through his nostalgia columns.
But it was his weekly political column that caught the eye of the large panel of judges.
He scored more than 90 per cent of the marks and was praised for his irreverent and often very funny look at the unprecedented goings-on at Westminster.
The Shropshire Star was one of five titles nominated for Daily/Sunday Newspaper of the Year, an accolade picked up by its sister paper the Express & Star.
Other nominations included Jamie Ricketts in the category of Tony Flanagan Photographer of the Year and James Pugh for Business Journalist of the Year.
Feature writer Mark Andrews also received a nomination for Columnist of the Year.
Organised by the Birmingham Press Club, the awards celebrate the best in print, online and broadcast journalism, covering an area from beyond Nottingham in the north to Oxford in the south.
Shropshire Star editor Martin Wright said Toby’s award was recognition for one of Britain’s best writers, whose standard of work is of a consistently high standard.
He said: “Toby’s political columns are a delight to read and have a big following both in-paper and online.
“He has been a loyal servant to the Shropshire Star for many years and for him to receive an extra recognition through the President’s Award is fantastic.
"We were also proud to be nominated in other categories including Best Newspaper, which is recognition for all the hard work put in by all our dedicated staff in Shropshire.”
