THE Press has received a prestigious award for “crystal clear reporting” from the Plain English Campaign.

The newspaper received the national award for best regional newspaper at a ceremony held yesterday at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.

Organisers said regional newspapers might have a challenge when competing for headlines and readers, but staying in touch with what mattered to local people required excellent communication skills, both in listening and reporting.

“The Press has maintained a high reputation through many years of production and has become more than a newspaper,” said a spokeswoman.

“The Press is a representative of the area’s heritage and identity.”

Chrissie Maher, the campaign’s founder, said when she started the UK ‘s first community newspaper in Liverpool, there was clearly a need for local people to be part of their local news in a way that they could understand. “The Press has kept that spirit alive in their press where others have been swallowed up by the big boys or simply disappeared,” she said.

The spokeswoman said judges took into account nominations and comments from campaign supporters, and also read, watched and listened to examples of work.

She said the campaign was an independent, self-funding pressure group which, since its humble beginnings, had grown to become the biggest plain language group in the world.

“It has had incredible success in persuading many UK and worldwide organisations to communicate with the public in plain language,” she said.

“It fights bureaucratic language, small print and the legalese of official information. It promotes the use of plain language by presenting awards, hosting international conferences and funding research projects.

“Each year, we present awards to those organisations who we judge to have produced the best and worst examples of English. We accept entries from any individual or organisation.”

The Press was one of seven media organisations to win awards, with other winners including the Daily Mail (best national newspaper) and BBC Breakfast (best national TV programme.) Steve Hughes, editor of The Press, said: “This is a real honour and a tribute to the dedication of all our journalists. It is particularly pleasing to see that the judges recognised our efforts to stay in touch with what matters to local people, because that’s what we’re all about.”

• Mike Laycock travelled to Manchester to collect The Press award courtesy of First TransPennine Express.