Yorkshire Post warns of AI threat as it scoops regional daily newspaper of the year

An editor has praised the ‘sheer bloody effort’ of journalists after his title was named regional daily of the year at the 2025 Newspaper Awards.

The Yorkshire Post scooped the top spot in the regional newspaper category, with the Press and Journal in Aberdeen highly commended.

The Belfast Telegraph, Liverpool Echo, Oxford Mail, Courier in Dundee and the Irish News were also shortlisted.

Yorkshire Post editor James Mitchinson said: ”I want to say thank you to everyone working on all teams contributing to this success.

“The creativity and sheer bloody effort, rarely easy in this industry these days, put into the collaborative approach by editorial and commercial in particular, is often looked upon with envy by others but it is that which makes us who and what we are and that comes down to you.”

In its leader column on Saturday, the Post said: “The Yorkshire Post takes great pride in the newspaper it puts out every morning and the website that it uploads around the clock.

“All those involved in the production of this august title put a huge amount of work into ensuring that audiences are provided with the coverage Yorkshire deserves.

“Therefore being named Regional Daily Newspaper of the Year was a proud moment for everyone involved with putting together Yorkshire’s National Newspaper.

“This title will continue to speak up for the communities that it represents. However, publishers across the country face a very real threat from artifical intelligence.

“There is no escaping the fact that AI is reshaping the world. But content creators need to be protected. Without proper controls, transparency and fair payment, publishers will be severely undermined.

“The Government should resist favouring tech platforms and enabling them to use British creative content to power their AI models without the need for express permission or payment. It would hugely damaging to the publishing industry.

“This award win is a timely reminder of the work that journalists at the Yorkshire Post do and why this work is worth protecting. It cannot be replaced by AI.”

Judges of the awards said they had noticed a larger than normal field of quality regional newspapers contesting the category this year.

Praising the Post, they said it was “an impressive title that grew its market-leading position in Yorkshire in 2024 taking more than a third of all sales of weekend newspapers — pretty impressive since the Post is up against the might of all the nationals in the region.

“And this fact did not escape the judges who noted the Post has refocused its editorial efforts on high-quality, visually impactful, exclusive content, data and insights.

“The YP is power packed with a really strong sense of regional identity.”

The P&J, highly commended, was praised for its mix of news, features and sport, in a ‘very clean book with bold blacks and strong colours.’