THE chief reporter of the Hampshire Chronicle is on a list of the most respected journalists in the country.

Andrew Napier was among 238 names put forward by journalists, and revealed by the National Council for the Training of Journalists as part of its Journalists at Work 2018 survey.

Journalists were asked which living journalist they felt most embodies the values that they respect and adhere to.

Nominations include well-known names from a number of broadcasters and national newspapers including Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times, Kate Adie, Frank Gardner, John Humphrys and Michal Hussein of the BBC and Matthew Parris.

Only 20 of the 238 names work in the regional press.

Ian Hargreaves, professor of digital economy at Cardiff University, who chaired the Journalists at Work research, said: “Journalists see colleagues all around them whose commitment to the right values they admire and respect. What's striking is that the range of individual journalists who embody these values is so broad and so varied.

“This suggests to me that values-based journalism is thriving in these turbulent times. An outcome where one or two individuals wholly dominated the voting might have indicated the opposite: that such qualities are admirable but rare.”

Mr Napier, who has worked in Winchester since 1988 and for the Chronicle since 2008, said he was surprised and delighted to be nominated. "To even be on the same list as Harold Evans and Bob Woodward is a huge honour. It's gratifying that someone somewhere has appreciated the hard work that local journalists do day in, day out."