The founder of The Lichfield Blog has been shortlisted for a prestigious media award.
Ross Hawkes – who started the site in January 2009 – has been nominated in the Online Journalist of the Year category in the Midlands Media Awards.
He will now face journalists from across the region at a glittering ceremony at the ICC in Birmingham on May 13.
Ross said:
“It’s really surprising to have reached this stage of the competition. I’m up against some fantastic journalists and people I’ve worked with during my career so I know the calibre of people I am up against. But just being in the final is fantastic and makes the hard work of The Lichfield Blog worthwhile.”
The Lichfield Blog has grown rapidly as a site and now provides regular news and information from people living in Lichfield, Burntwood and the surrounding areas.
But, as Ross points out, the website is still put together by a mixture of goodwill and good people. He explained:
“I never imagined The Lichfield Blog would achieve anything like it has in such a short period of time. People like Philip John, Nick Brickett and Paul Groves helped transform The Lichfield Blog into what is today.
“We’re now eternally thankful to the many contributors who put time and effort into writing articles and helping to keep the site ticking over. The Lichfield Blog is still a voluntary operation run by people in their spare time who have to fit it around full time jobs and what money we do make through advertising is invested into running costs and safeguarding the site’s future.”
