- Culture
- 02 Dec 16
Stuart Clark was named Journalist of the Year and Niall Stokes was named Editor of the Year at the ceremony held in City Hall last night.
Hot Press was among the big winners last night at the Irish Magazine Awards, which were held in Dublin’s wonderfully appointed City Hall and hosted by Today FM’s Matt Cooper.
The first Hot Press-er to the podium was Stuart Clark, who scooped the prestigious Journalist of the Year title. Stuart has written extensively and superbly on the issue of drugs over the past 12 months – and Hot Press' campaigning on the issue has begun to bear fruit, with the apparent acceptance in the Dáil of the idea of injection centres.
Hot Press long-term campaigning on the issue of medical cannabis – as indeed on the wider issue of the potential de-criminalisation of the drug – which has been a key issue for both Stuart and Olaf Tyaransen over the past number of years, also seems to have borne considerable fruit, with Gino Kelly's bill on the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes passing the first stage, on the way to becoming legislation, in the Dáil yesterday.
Next up to the podium was Niall Stokes, who was named as the Editor of the Year. “It has been a great year for Hot Press,” Niall said afterwards. “But it is all about the team. Very early in the year, the news came through that David Bowie had died. When something like that happens, you have to tear up the plans for the issue and start all over again. And it is important to produce an issue that does justice not just to the life and the work of a great artist like Bowie – but also to ourselves, and most importantly to the readers of Hot Press, who put their faith in us by going out and buying the magazine every fortnight. Everything we do is ultimately for them.
“Sadly it was a year in which those same demands were made again not once but twice – with the sudden loss of Prince and finally Leonard Cohen. In all three cases, the team here did an exceptional job in putting together wide-ranging, in depth tributes – which were executed superbly editorially and visually. All three magazines are now collectors’ items.
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“We have also made headlines on numerous occasions throughout the year, particularly with the interviews that Jason O’Toole has been doing – and in this context, we have raised hugely important issues and contributed to the national conversation in a really significant way. Ultimately, as an editor, you need great people around you who are committed to doing great things. I’m fortunate that we have such a committed and talented group of people here, who believe in the Hot Press mission – so this award is really for them.”
A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Irishman Stephen Quinn – originally from Co. Kilkenny – who is the long-standing Publishing Director at Vogue, one of the most successful magazine titles in the world.
The Consumer Magazine of the Year (circulation over 15,000) award went to Woman’s Way magazine – and was picked up, on the night, for publishers Harmonia by ex-Hot Press designer, Simon Bailie, who is design kingpin at the southside publishing house. The Digital Product of the Year award, meanwhile, went to image.ie.
Others to walk away with honours on what was a very enjoyable evening were Áine Duffy of Irish Tatler, who won Designer of the Year; and Matthew Thompson, who pipped Hot Press’ nominee Kathrin Baumbach for the prize of Photographer of the Year. The Publisher of the Year award went to IFP Media.