The Powys County Times has been named Wales' top weekly newspaper for a second consecutive year.

At a ceremony of the Journalists’ Charity Wales Media Awards, which was held to celebrate the cream of Wales' media in Cardiff on Friday, March 25, the title was named Weekly Newspaper of the Year.

It meant the County Times retained the accolade, having also won it at last year's online event.

County Times: Gavin Grosvenor, Matt Jones, Thom Kennedy and Anwen Parry from the Powys County Times

Judges hailed the County Times' "newsy, informative reading", and praised it efforts during the coronavirus pandemic, the layout of the paper, and the mix of court, council, and human interest stories.

Editor Thom Kennedy paid tribute to the efforts of the reporting team at the paper after collecting the award.

He said: "It is no secret that the newspaper industry has been through some challenging times of late, but that just makes me even more proud of our team's achievements.

"We have spent the last year focusing on providing a wide range of robust, well-considered journalism, providing a voice for and benefits to the local community.

READ MORE:

"This award is a vindication of all our efforts. It helps demonstrate that the long hours, consideration, determination and diligence that our team has put into making this a title that the local community can rely on and be proud of has have been worth it.

"I'm exceptionally pleased for every member of our absolutely outstanding team. I hope the whole of Powys feels the same."

In a citation accompanying the award, the judges said: "The Powys County Times is a well-crafted, attractive newspaper which prides itself on giving its readers newsy, informative reading.

"In particular, it has worked through the pandemic to provide updates and to highlight the disease’s impact locally, and has been one of the few weekly newspapers to join the Welsh Government’s press conferences.

"Page layout is both clear and effective, story count is high, the range of coverage is wide, ensuring that court and council are accompanied by some excellent human interest tales. The County Times has built on its success as last year’s category winner to be the standout entry once again."

Other winners at the same event included Joe Robinson, of the County Times' sister paper The Leader in Wrexham, who was named Young Reporter of the Year.