Jul 3, 2022
Workplace bullying investigation named story of the month at regional publisher
A trainee reporter’s investigation into allegations of workplace bullying by a manager working for the NHS has been named as story of the month by a local news publisher.
Shannen Headley’s scoop revealed multiple allegations made against Shaun Chadwick, a senior executive partner at Spectrum Health in Oadby, Leicestershire. Shannen works for LeicestershireLive.
Shannen’s story was chosen from more than 60 stories of the month chosen for each title within regional publisher Reach, including brands such as MyLondon, BirminghamLive, DublinLive and the Daily Record.
LeicestershireLive editor Adam Moss said: “It was really great to see a young up and coming reporter take on a story about bullying in the workplace. Such articles are notoriously difficult for any journalist to write, because they need to find the necessary proof to ensure the article is safe legally to publish.
“Shannen worked incredibly hard to obtain the proof we needed, and put in a countless amount of extra hours in her own spare time to make sure she overcame the difficulties any reporter inevitably faces when taking on such a story.
“Not only that, but I know for a fact that she has established an incredibly strong relationship of trust with contacts she built up while carrying out the investigation, and that they were delighted that she provided them with a platform to share their stories.”
Highly commended in Reach’s regional story of the month category was MEN Chief Reporter Neal Keeling for his work on this in-depth special report on the baby-faced ASBO yobs who became big-time drug dealers, and Derek Alexander from the Daily Record, who broke the news that Rangers and Scottish football icon Andy Goram was terminally ill.
In the sports category, Chief Manchester United writer for the Manchester Evening News, Samuel Luckhurst, won story of the month for his in-depth review of a nightmare season at Manchester United.
“Players briefing against legends, Rangnick’s nickname and fraught meetings — the inside story of the worst Manchester United season in decades” was one of the best-read stories at Reach in May.
Samuel’s special report was described by judges as “a masterclass in being a brilliant chief club writer”.
Audience and content director for Sport at Reach, Neil Hodgkinson, said: “This was a superb piece of original journalism and really sets the standard of what senior club correspondents should be doing in Reach Sport.”
Winner of the company’s publishing hero of the month award was Jenny Kirkham, who led on making coverage of the Champions League final and subsequent parade be about so much more than events on the pitch, driving and motivating the team to produce excellent reports and responding swiftly and accurately to unforeseen events in Paris.
Reach’s audience and content director for the North East and Yorkshire, Helen Dalby, oversees the awards and chairs the judging panel. She said: “It was fantastic to receive more than 300 nominations for our first monthly awards, and the quality of entries from across the business was exceptional.
“This is an important way of recognising, celebrating and rewarding the terrific journalism we publish and we’re delighted for everyone who has won a prize.”
And if you want to see all the winner, visit this thread:
- In 2022, Behind Local News aims to celebrate local journalism in all its forms through our 365 Acts of Local Journalism Project. Lets us know what you think should be included. You can email us here or contact us via Twitter on BehindLocalNews or on Facebook here.
