City AM’s Magazine Editor Steve Dinneen wins Features Writer of the Year

City AM’s magazine editor Steve Dinneen walked away with the Features Writer of the Year award at the prestigious Regional Press Awards last week, beating rivals including LondonCentric, the Manchester Evening News and Reach PLC.

The gong was one of two awards for which City AM was competing, with The Magazine also reaching the shortlist of four for Supplement of the Year. 

The judges said of Dinneen’s work: “Steve Dinneen is a great example of what modern journalism should be: lively, imaginative and distinctive. His sense of enjoyment is palpable in his writing.”

Three features were considered for the prize: Dinneen’s piece on tracking down the author of an AI-generated pitch about warring chicken shops to rural Nairobi; checking in for an overnight stay at the world’s most expensive old folks’ home; and attempting to set a record for eating the world’s hottest chillies.

‘A great example of what modern journalism should be’

Dinneen said: “I’m thrilled to have won Features Writer of the Year. There were some very talented people in the room writing some very important stories so it was humbling to be chosen. I think the key is genuine curiosity, dogged determination and a love of putting words in a nice order. The only thing I regret is eating so many of those chillies.”

City AM chief executive Harry Owen said: “Amazing news for Steve Dinneen – really well deserved for 16 years of great features!” City AM editor Christian May added the award was “thoroughly well deserved”.

Steve Dinneen is one of City AM’s longest serving members of staff, with more than 16 years at the company. He is the Life&Style editor of the newspaper and editor of The Magazine, which is preparing to publish its 90th issue under his editorship.

Other winners included Aoife Moore from The Irish News for Opinion Writer of the year; Sam McBride from the Belfast Telegraph for Daily Reporter of the Year and Ben Roberts-Haslam from the Liverpool Echo for Young Reporter of the Year. Front Page of the Year was awarded to the Birmingham Mail for its fond farewell to its favourite son Ozzy Osborne.