2016 British Journalism Awards winners
Local Heroes Award:
Winner:
Birmingham Mail, Andy Richards, for the campaign to resume the Birmingham pub bombing victims’ inquest
The judges said: "While trawling through archives for the Mail's 40th anniversary coverage of the Birmingham Pub bombings, Richards realised the inquest into the deaths of the 21 victims had been opened but never completed. Working with victims' families the Birmingham Mail successfully campaigned for the inquests to be resumed. This was an excellent example of campaigning local reporting at its best: taking an important local issue, backing its readers and having a significant influence on the result."
Highly commended:
Yellow Advertiser, Charles Thomson, for: Probe into Essex child abuse claims, Fourth whistleblower to cooperate with Essex Police review of alleged Shoebury child abuse cover-up and Paedophile at centre of Shoebury review has been convicted 10 times in the last three years
"He worked with a whistleblower to expose depravity and cover-ups. His entry was particularly impressive given the tight editorial resources on a free weekly local newspaper."
Birmingham Mail, Jeanette Oldham, for: Trust spent £1m treating NHS patients at private clinic run by its own consultants, 7-month x-ray backlog and Schoolgirl abused by 100 men in two years
"She has such a huge-track record of investigative journalism and has maintained her usual high standard yet again this year."
Business, Finance and Economics Journalism Sponsored by TSB
Winner:
The Guardian, Simon Goodley, for: Revealed: how Sports Direct effectively pays below minimum wage, A day at ‘the gulag’: what it’s like to work at Sports Direct’s warehouse and Sports Direct warehouse workers to receive back pay
"Simon Goodley's undercover investigation into life at Sports Direct's Derbyshire warehouse was business journalism which got results - prompting the company to ensure staff were paid at least the minimum wage and make other concessions. This was great public interest journalism."
Highly commended:
The Sunday Times, Oliver Shah, for: Close to the rocks, BHS on brink as rescue talks fail and My battle with the bullying billionaire
"He built up a relationship with Michael Green over many years and wrote with unrivaled authority on one of the biggest British business stories of the year."
Wall Street Journal, David Enrich, for: The Unraveling of Tom Hayes
"This was a gripping account of the role of Tom Hayes in the Libor scandal based on in-depth research."
Specialist Journalism
Winner:
Health Service Journal patient safety correspondent Shaun Lintern, for: Watchdog resigns over deputy’s sexual harassment cover-up, Investigations launched into Stafford Hospital death ‘cover up‘ and Huge leak reveals BMA plan to ‘draw out’ junior doctors dispute
"Shaun Lintern clearly knows his beat inside out. This was good, investigative journalism which had consequences. His reporting prompted the resignation of the Health Service Ombudsman, forced the health secretary to intervene over poor care which contributed to the death of a child and exposed a plot by junior doctors to drag out their dispute with the government."
Highly commended:
"A brave launch by Archant which cleverly saw there were 16.1m potential readers for a pro-European newspaper and which has successfully served that market by providing strong writing on matter of undoubted public interest."
Politics Journalism
Winner:
The Times, Rachel Sylvester, for: Being a mother gives me edge on May—Leadsom, As Labour splits, a new party is emerging and Gove picks cabinet fight over deal with Saudis.
"Rachel Sylvester has an extraordinary ability to get a hard news story out of every interview. Her interview with Andrea Leadsom led her to withdraw from the Tory leadership race and changed the course of British history. She also has fantastic contacts across all the parties and writes shrewd political analysis."
Highly commended:
BBC News – Anthony Reuben, Alexis Condon, Tamara Kovacevic, Peter Barnes, Deirdre Finnerty, Beth Sagar-Fenton, Shelley Phelps, Edward Curwen, Rachel Schraer and Sarah Glatte – for Reality Check
Channel 4 News – FactCheck, Patrick Worrall, Georgia Graham and Kieron Bryan, for: Does the EU really cost £350m a week? Express goes bananas over the EU and Will prices rise if we leave the EU?
"The judges would like highly commend both Channel 4's Factcheck and the BBC's Reality Check for the important work they did during the referendum campaign in testing the claims made by both sides."
BBC News, Laura Kuenssberg, for: Andrea Leadsom standing aside in Tory leadership race, Brendan Cox interview and President Xi/David Cameron press conference
"This was an entry which demonstrated her clarity, authority and down to earth common sense reporting on a period of historic political upheaval."
Sports Journalism sponsored by St Mary’s Twickenham University
Winner:
Daily Mail, Matt Lawton, for: Golden girl in drug ban drama, Coe ‘misled
MPs over doping at Olympics’ and Now GB cyclist fails drugs test
"This was brave, must-read journalism. Naming a leading British cyclist who had missed drugs tests on the eve the Olympics changed the story of British cycling. Matt Lawton is a sports journalist who is not afraid to investigate his own patch - his access was fantastic and he knows his subject inside out."
Science and Technology Journalist sponsored by Astellas
Winner:
The Times, Billy Kenber, for: ‘Extortionate’ prices add £260m to NHS drug bill, Drug ‘profiteers’ face fines and Huge price rise forces NHS
"Billy Kenber's investigation into the extortionate prices charged by a small group of entrepreneurs for vital NHS drugs had everything. He spent three months digging then named names and got results, prompting the government to tackle this shocking issue."
Highly commended:
The Daily Telegraph, Laura Donnelly, for: Patients ‘punished’ for calling 111, 25 deaths blamed on NHS 111 scandal and Patients died in 111 ambulance scandal
"This was dogged and determined reporting. Any newspaper would want to have a journalist of this quality on their staff."
Campaign of the Year sponsored by Bournemouth University
Winner:
Sunday People, Martyn Halle, for: ‘Go home unless you are dying’, campaign exposing shortcomings at North Middlesex Hospital
"This was a hard-hitting campaign which was relevant to everyone who depends on the NHS for their health. Martin Halle and the Sunday People uncovered serious failings at an NHS trust and stayed with the story until the issues were addressed. This was a particularly impressive achievement for a freelance journalist working without the support of a big team."
Highly commended:
Daily Mail, Sean Poulter, for: Ban the toxic beads now.
"This was a revelatory campaign because no-one knew about these dreadful pollutants. The Daily Mail has put this issue at the top of the news agenda making a powerful case for micro beads to be banned."
Popular Journalism
Winner:
The Sun, Dan Jones, for: Bung charity’s £47m OAP deals, Sun victory as Age UK caves in and Taking the OAP: Charity punts dearer power to old
"This was an investigation which revealed how Age UK was making millions by selling pensioners energy and insurance deals which were not the best value on the market. It showed how a tabloid newspaper can have more positive impact than any other media when it goes for it with a story."
Scoop of the Year
Winner:
Daily Telegraph, Charles Moore, for: My secret father, DNA tests reveal Archbishop of Canterbury’s astonishing family past
"A great story beautifully projected by the Telegraph. Charles Moore combined tact, charm and sensitivity to persuade the archbishop to cooperate with him on the article. The result was a story which corrected the historical record and prompted a national debate about family and parentood."
Highly Commended:
Sky News, Stuart Ramsay, for: IS Files
"A hugely important story, compellingly told."
Photojournalism sponsored by The Mega Agency
Mail on Sunday, Philip Ide:
"This was photography which told the British people what was going at a crucial point in the Brexit story. Philip Ide would have to wait for hours to get capture these images but the result was a piece of journalism which bore witness to history."
Digital Innovation sponsored by NEWSTAG
Winner:
TheGuardian.com for: 6X9 – A virtual experience of solitary confinement
"Crusading journalism at its 21st century best, and very powerful storytelling indeed. The use of virtual reality was a genuine innovation and was accompanied by video, podcasts, personal narratives and long-form journalism to beautifully convey this story."
Highly commended:
Private Eye, Christian Eriksson and Richard Brooks, for: Selling England (and Wales) by the pound – UK tax haven map
"A fantastic piece of data journalism which used digital techniques to add a new dimension to the story."
Investigation of the Year sponsored by Transparency International
Winners:
The Guardian for: The Panama Papers
"The Guardian revealed secret billion dollar deals linked to Vladimir Putin and David Cameron's links to secret offshore fund. This was another vast investigation by The Guardian which shone a light in some of the darkest corners of international finance."
BBC Panorama – Richard Bilton, James Oliver, Jonathan Coffey, David Thompson, Andrew Head for: Tax Havens of the Rich and Powerful Exposed (also on the Panama Papers)
"The BBC exposed a billion dollar money laundering ring in Russia and a criminal conspiracy with links to Vladimir Putin. It also showed how Mossack Fonseca helped launder the proceeds of the Brinks Matt robbery and it prompted the resignation of Iceland's prime minister by revealing his secret offshore company. They managed to break down a vast investigation into a series of compelling stories which had global impact."
Highly commended:
The Sunday Times, Oliver Shah, for: Close to the rocks, BHS on brink as rescue talks fail and My battle with the bullying billionaire
"Oliver Shah deserves great credit for exposing Green's character and lifestyle and showing him up for the man he is."
New Journalist of the Year sponsored by Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy
Winner:
Louise Callaghan, The Sunday Times, for: Turks crush coup; Cold, held like cattle, refugees grow sick in Greek island ‘jail’ and How ISIS Slaughtered our city
"These were three compelling pieces from Istanbul, Lesbos and Berlin. The first cut through the chaos of the early hours of the Turkish coup, the second highlighted the cruel impact of a realpolitik deal between Turkey and the EU on refugees and the third went from Berlin to the hell of Raqqa via a group using digital journalism to fight back against ISIS."
Foreign Affairs Journalism
Winner:
Channel 4 News, Waad Al-Khatib, for: A life in the day of Aleppo, The last flower-seller of Aleppo and Mayissa’s story
"Waad Al-Khatib’s sensitive, visceral reports from Aleppo showed immense bravery. No could watch two brothers weeping for their dead sibling in a hospital surgery or her report on the life and death of a simple flower seller and not feel that this is as close as you can get to experiencing the full, immediate, unmediated horror of the Syrian catastrophe."
Journalist of the Year sponsored by Gorkana Jobs
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg
"Laura Kuenssberg deserves this prize for the sheer volume and scope of reporting on some of the biggest changes ever in British politics when she was just into the job of BBC political editor. In a tumultuous year she rose to the challenge and made the story of Brexit her own. In the days and weeks after the Brexit vote she seemed to be everywhere. Her moving interview with Brendan Cox showed sensitivity and compassion. She lead the way on reporting the fast-moving developments in the Tory leadership race. And she did our profession proud when she put the Chinese President on the spot about human rights abuses with the one question allowed to the British media at his London press conference."
The Marie Colvin Award (supported by Reporters Without Borders)
Winner:
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.
"This year's recipients are a group of young men from Syria who began publishing online in 2014 as a form of peaceful challenge to the human rights abuses being perpetrated by ISIS in their city. They became the only media balance to the slick ISIS propaganda coming out of Raqqa and the most read source of news about the area. Hundreds were arrested for merely liking their Facebook page. Their friends and family have been murdered by ISIS as a way of trying to stop them from publishing. Several members of the group have been themselves murdered by ISIS. One of the British Journalism Awards judges said: Given what those people have done and the price they have paid, it would be odd to put anyone ahead of them."
Full list of winners for the British Journalism Awards 2015
Digital Innovation sponsored by Citi
Winner: Vice News
The judges said:
“Since launching online in 2014, Vice News has done what it set out to do, bringing serous news from around the world to a new audience. With a mixture of video dispatches, documentaries and long-form writing it has brilliantly covered the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, refugee migration into Europe and the crisis in Ukraine. And it has also experimented effectively with a wide range of technologies, including drones, live streaming and virtual reality.”
Aris Rousinoss of Vice News with Jeffrey French from Citi
New Journalist of the Year sponsored by the Stationers' Crown Woods Academy
Winner: Simon Murphy of The Mail on Sunday for ‘Oxfam targets donors aged 98’, ‘Revealed: New boss of investigation into VIP child abuse claims is linked to Leon Brittan’ and ‘Jihadi hunters…or fantasists?’
The judges said: “Simon Murphy is an industrious reporter whose work has had a huge impact leading to a change in the law on how charities raise money. He covered a great range of stories and used tactics including undercover filming, and all were firmly in the public interest.”
Simon Murphy, pictured with Michael Murphy - principle of Stationers' Crown Woods Academy
Campaign of the Year
Highly commended: David Jones, Sam Greenhill, Ian Drury and Jack Doyle of the Daily Mail for US Gulag That Shames the West – the campaign for the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the release of Shaker Aamer
The judges said: "The Daily Mail has had a superb year for campaigning journalism. Particularly impressive was its brave and principled campaign on Guantanamo Bay, which was credited with helping secure the release of Shaker Aamer.”
Winner: The Guardian for Keep it in the Ground
The judges said: “This was an epic piece of journalism conducted on an international scale and on a difficult subject. The Keep it in the Ground climate change campaign was hugely ambitious, reverberated around the world and had tangible results.”
The Guardian team pictured with judge John Mair.
Foreign Affairs Journalism
Winner: Patrick Kingsley of The Guardian for:
'Libya's people smugglers: inside the trade that sells refugees hopes of a better life'. 'The Journey: Syrian refugee Hashem Alsouki risks his life crossing the Mediterranean' and 'It's not at war, but up to 3% of its people have fled. What is going on in Eritrea?'
The judges said: “It was difficult to pick one winner in this category because of the exceptionally high standard of entries. But Patrick Kingsley’s piece, The Journey, which followed a Syrian refugee across the Mediterranean, stood out as an epic read about an epic journey which made for epic journalism. Hats off to The Guardian for giving him the time and space to tell this story.”
Patrick Kingsley pictured with judge Peter Cole
Politics Journalism sponsored by Media Focus
Winner: Tom Newton Dunn of The Sun for ‘Plebgate – what really happened’
The judges said: “This was a story that deserved to win prizes in 2012 and 2015 after it first broke but didn’t because it became mired in controversy. They felt it was right to recognise Tom Newton Dunn and The Sun this year as the paper’s reporting was finally vindicated in the libel courts and for the way it has stuck with this story for three years. The Sun ultimately proved that the public have a right to know about how politicians speak to those who are paid to protect them and it struck an important blow for freedom of speech.”
Tom Newton Dunn pictured with Paul Blanchard, presenter of the Media Focus podcast
Photojournalism
Highly Commended: Jack Hill of The Times – for his pictures from Syria
And
Philip Coburn of the Daily Mirror – for his work in Gaza
The judges noted that both returned to conflict areas this year after previously being injured in the field. Philip Coburn lost both his legs below the knee after being injured by an IED in Afghanistan in 2000 and Hill was kidnapped and beaten last year by Syrian militants.
Winner: Manu Brabo of The Sunday Times
The judges said: “Manu has an exceptional eye and has produced a photographic essay from Ukraine which any magazine editor in the world would be proud to publish.”
Sunday Times associated editor Sean Ryan with awards judge Jon Slattery
Business, Finance and Economics Journalism sponsored by TSB
Highly commended: Charles Levinson of Reuters for
US banks move billions of dollars in trades beyond Washington’s reach
The judges said this piece could be predicting the next banking crisis, it took a dry subject and made it captivating.
Winner: Daniel Jones of The Sun for Compare The FatCats, The Great Stitch Up and You phonies
The judges said: “This was a great piece of campaigning journalism on something which effects everybody in the country. He held the utility companies to account on behalf of Sun readers with some hard-hitting and entertaining journalism.”
Sun associate editor Sam Carlisle pictured with Roy Beale from TSB
Science, Technology and Health Journalism sponsored by Astellas
Highly commended: Natasha Loder of The Economist for ‘Genome editing – The age of the red pen’
Winner: Deborah Cohen from the BMJ for ‘Why have UK doctors been deterred from prescribing Avastin?’
The judges said: “Deborah’s investigation into why NHS doctors are being prevented from using a safe and effective eye drug covered a highly technical subject but nonetheless held the attention of the non-specialist reader right to the end. It exposed a conflict of interest in the drug licensing system at the heart of the NHS.”
Deborah Cohen pictured with AJ Kenneally from Astellas
Breaking News Award
Winner: Jonathan Calvert, George Arbuthnott and Bojan Pancevski (Insight) – The Sunday Times for coverage of Fifa and Sepp Blatter: 'Swiss prosecutors target Blatter as Prince William demands clean-up'
The judges said: “The Insight Team are probably as responsible for the demise of Fifa and its dirty practitioners as anyone and this story is a result of all that painstaking work over the years. It is not just a top line but a whole catalogue of woe.”
George Arbuthnott, Jonathan Calvert and awards judge Kurt Barling
Sports Journalism sponsored by Sportcal
Highly commended: Jonathan Calvert, George Arbuthnott and David Collins of The Sunday Times for The Doping Scandal
The judges said this was: “A vast investigation which exposed a major scandal.”
Winner: Mark Daly, Murdoch Rodgers and David Epstein - BBC Scotland/Panorama/ProPublica for 'Catch Me If You Can’ investigation into athletics doping
The judges said: "This was a superb long-crafted investigation which had a huge impact on athletics. Daly led a team of journalists which spent 18 months investigating doping in athletics. The revelations about star coach Alberto Salazar led the sports news agenda for weeks."
Mark Daly with Sportcal chief executive Mike Laflin
Popular journalism sponsored by Bournemouth University
Winner: The news team at The Mail on Sunday for '62p an hour –', ‘MoS reporter is first to contact UK schoolgirl who fled to Syria d’ and ‘Exposed: Tory’s plot with race thugs to fix election’
The judges said: “Week in week out The Mail on Sunday shows that producing hard-hitting popular journalism with mass appeal and serving the public interest can go hand in hand. In particular the news team showed industry and ingenuity to reveal the hypocrisy of leading politicians wearing ‘feminist’ T-shirts produced by women working for 62p an hour in Mauritius.”
The Mail on Sunday team with Karen Fowler Watt from Bournemouth University
Local Heroes
Highly commended: Andrew Gilligan of The Daily and Sunday Telegraph for his dogged Investigation into corruption, electoral fraud and links to extremism of Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman
Winner: Jeanette Oldham of the Birmingham Mail for ‘Birmingham City Council hid links between Asian cabbies and child sex victims for 23 years’, ‘West Midlands Police report reveals 75 per cent of known on-street child sex groomers are Asian’ and ‘Child Sexual Exploitation: We force West Midlands Police to release secret report which confirms 'significant similarities' with Rotherham scandal’
The judges said: “Jeanette used whistleblowers and shoe leather reporting to expose disturbing parallels to the Rotherham child abuse scandal in Birmingham and evidence of local authority inaction and a cover up. It was first class investigative reporting firmly in the public interest which has made difference.”
Jeanette Oldham with John Mair
Investigation of the year sponsored by Public Concern at Work
Winner: Juliette Garside, James Ball, David Leigh and David Pegg of The Guardian for the HSBC Files
The judges said: “This was a complex financial story which had a real impact on the use of tax havens. It was a stunning demonstration of international investigative work spanning many international borders and making big waves.”
The Guardian team with Ciara Bottomley from Public Concern at Work
The Marie Colvin Award for raising the reputation of British journalism
Winner: Alan Rusbridger
The judges said:
The word visionary is bandied around a lot, but it is particularly impressive that Alan Rusbridger wrote The Online Future – a blueprint for The Guardian’s digital development back in 1994. The Guardian now attracts some 140m browsers a month around the world.
In the early years of his editorship he won some of the most significant libel cases of the modern era including: Neil Hamilton, Jonathan Aitken and Stoke Newington police station (ending the Police Federation’s 80-case undefeated run).
In recent years he has overseen some of the biggest journalism investigations of our time: phone-hacking, Wikileaks, Snowden and finally HSBC..
In 2014 The Guardian became the first non-American news organisation to win the Pulitzer Prize in recognition of its Snowden coverage.
In an industry where editors often like to the keep their heads down, he has always stuck his above the parapet and been a vocal supporter of press freedom and of journalism in general.
He has been a great ambassador for our craft and is a hugely deserving winner of the 2015 Marie Colvin award.
Alan Rusbridger pictured with Warner Rootliep of sponsor Air France/KLM
Journalist of the Year sponsored by Audi
Winner: Jonathan Calvert of The Sunday Times
The judges said:
Jonathan Calvert is the longest serving editor of The Sunday Times Insight team in its 50-year history and over his 21 years in national newspaper journalism he has probably been behind as many famous scoops and investigative scandals as any other journalist still working today.
Over the last year he has been again involved in several of the biggest stories to have hit the headlines. After leading the way in exposing Fifa for five years, this year his Insight team revealed Fifa president Sepp Blatter had made a secret deal to ensure Qatar would not lose its hosting rights to the 2022 world cup. It was his investigation which largely provoked the current crisis in Fifa which is now finally showing signs of cleaning up its act.
The Sunday Times blood doping investigation this year revealed that 55 gold medals have been won in Olympics and world championship endurance events by athletes who have recorded suspicious blood tests.
He is a journalist who has produced a quite astonishing track record of investigations and scoops across a huge range of subject areas.
More British Journalism Awards pictures are available from this link
British Journalism Awards Hall of Fame 2014
Journalist of the Year (sponsored by TSB) – Andrew Norfolk, The Times
Norfolk was named journalist of the year for his long-running investigation into child abuse. Judges said he “stood out as a magnificent example of what can be achieved by an ordinary reporter”.
A judges’ statement said: “It was a local story which exposed an appalling, unpalatable and almost unbelieveable scandal. Norfolk and The Times refused to give up until the child grooming gangs were exposed and the problem was addressed at a national level.
“It was an investigation which began with a front page story in January 2011 and culminated in the Jay report published in August this year which revealed council and law enforcement failures which contributed to 1,400 children being abused in Rotherham alone.
“It has been journalism which has made a difference, which gave a voice to people who no-one was listening to and which proved that sometimes journalists can step in when police, local and central government have all failed.”
Marie Colvin Award – Anthony Loyd, The Times
The Times’s Anthony Loyd was awarded the Marie Colvin prize in recognition of his 25-year career covering war zones.
Judges said: “Like Marie Colvin, Anthony Loyd has risked his life to report on the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Syria.
“Earlier this year he, along with photographer Jack Hill, were kidnapped whilst returning to Turkey from a reporting assignment in Syria. They were badly beaten, and Loyd himself was shot twice, but thankfully they were both freed.
“The risks Loyd and Hill run to report on the bombing of Aleppo are underlined by the fact that at least 70 journalists have been killed since 2011 covering the conflict in Syria. Others, like Briton John Cantlie, are still being held capitive.
“Anthony Loyd has spent is career going to places few others would be willing to visit in order shine a light on some of the darkest parts of our world.
“Loyd began his journalism career covering the conflict in Bosnia and has gone on to cover wars in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Chechnya, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine.”
“His journalism is marked by the quality and humanity of his writing, the depth of his insight and his ability to bring home globally significant scoops.
“In recent years these have included exclusive reports about Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria and Al Quaeda shopping for uranium in Libya.
“Since recovering from his gunshot injuries he has return to frontline journalism reporting most recently on the spread of ebola in Sierra Leone.”
New Journalist of the Year (sponsored by Stationers' Crown Woods Academy) – Tom Warren, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Judges said: “Tom made great use of data and technology to unearth stories and details. He picked targets that no-one else was looking at to bring new information to light on matters of real public interest.
“He used excellent detective work to reveal the privileged bidders who profiteered from the Royal Mail flotation, forcing the Government to release the full list.”
Local Heroes – Carl Eve, The Herald in Plymouth
Carl Eve won the Local Heroes award for his investigation into police failures to prosecute members of a child abuse ring.
Judges said: “This was a particularly difficult investigation which involved persuading police contacts and victims of crime to speak out.
“He has great contacts and uses old fashioned face to face reporting to get behind the headlines. It is the sort of in-depth local reporting which is under threat in the current climate.”
Business Journalist of the Year (sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services) – Jonathan Calvert and Heidi Blake, Insight Team, Sunday Times
The Insight Team (pictured above with Ashish Babu from sponsor Tata Consultancy Services) was awarded the business prize for its investigation into RBS ‘killing off good firms for profit’.
The judges said: “This investigation ticked every box and did everything that we were looking for. It was in the public interest, revelatory and it’s had a huge impact.
“So many people would have had their livelihoods wiped out by the actions of RBS, a bank which is owned by the taxpayer.”
Politics Journalist of the Year – Times team
A team of journalists from The Times, comprising Greg Hurst, Francis Elliott, Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson, won the politics prize for stories headlined: ‘Angry Cameron rebukes rivals as Tory rift widens’, ‘Gove under fire for ‘Islamist school’s top Ofsted rating’ and ‘Cameron bumbles from one shambles to another with no sense of purpose’.
The judges said: “The Times’s team reporting on the political fallout of the row over Islamic faith schools shone a light on a serious policy dispute at the heart of government.
“It was one of the biggest political stories of the year and had a real impact on people in charge of government policy.
“Michael Gove was a big player in the Government up until this point and since then has been sidelined.”
Campaign of the Year – George Arbuthnott, The Sunday Times
George Arbuthnott won the campaign of the year for The Sunday Times for his work on slavery in modern-day Britain.
Judges said: “This was a campaign which showed the sort of campaigning investigative journalism pioneered by William Stead on the Pall Mall Gazette is alive and well on Fleet Street today.
“It exposed a little-reported scandal affecting some of most vulnerable people in the world and helped prompt the Government to table the Modern Slavery Bill.”
Sports Journalist of the Year (sponsored by the Hippodrome Casino) – Jonathan Calvert and Heidi Blake, Insight Team, The Sunday Times
The Insight Team won the sports prize for its investigation into FIFA.
The judges said: “This was the most significant sports story of the year and a huge embarrassment for Fifa in a World Cup Year just before the start of the tournament.
“They took a huge dossier of evidence and turned into a compellingly told story with no angle left unexplored.”
Innovation of the Year – The Guardian
The Guardian won the Innovation of the Year award for its NSA Files: Decoded project.
Judges said: “This feature set a new standard for interactive digital story-telling by a UK publication. It combines video, data and old-fashioned text-based journalism skills to explain the significance of Edward Snowden files on NSA surveillance in a more approachable and dynamic way than would ever be possible in print.
"The Guardian has continued to own this story by finding new ways to make it meaningful to people.”
Science and Technology Journalist of the Year (sponsored by Astellas) – Pallab Ghosh, BBC
The BBC’s Pallab Ghosh won the science and technology award for his reports exposing the failure of the Government’s badger culling programme.
The judges said: “This was one of those stories where if it wasn’t for people like Pallab the Governnent would have got away with doing what it wanted and ignoring the advice of its own scientists.
“There had been previous work where scientists had expressed concerns about the badger culls, lots of journalists were following this up. But Pallab was the only one to get hold of Defra’s own unpublished report showing that the culls were ineffective and inhumane.”
Photojournalist of the Year – David Rose, Telegraph
The judges said: “David’s pictures of the conflict in Ukraine were examples of news photography at its most dramatic. Brave and sympathetic, they were a potent demonstration of the way still print images have enduring power that video does not.”
Breaking News Award – Nick Craven and Ross Slater, The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday won the breaking news prize, for the best story of the year, for its story: ‘Crystal meth shame of bank chief’.
The judges highly commended the Telegraph for its Qatar corruption story, but felt the Paul Flowers story “was a great example of old fashioned tabloid journalism which held the powerful to account”.
They said: “At its heart was a genuine public interest story. The Co-op was the last bank you would think would be involved in corruption. How could somebody like Paul Flowers get appointed to such an important position?”
Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year – Patrick Cockburn, The Independent/i
Patrick Cockburn of The Independent won the foreign affairs prize for his coverage of the emergence of ISIS.
The judges said: “Patrick Cockburn spotted the emergence of Isis much earlier than anybody else and wrote about it with a depth of understanding that was just in a league of its own. Nobody else was writing that stuff at that time, and the judges wondered whether the Government should considering pensioning off the whole of MI6 and hiring Patrick Cockburn instead.
“The breadth of his knowledge and his ability make connections is phenomenal.”
Investigation of the Year – Jonathan Calvert and Heidi Blake, Insight Team, The Sunday Times
The Insight Team won the investigation prize, described as “one of the most prestigious and sought after of the night”, again for its FIFA coverage.
Judges said: “It was the story that almost gave Sepp Blatter a moment’s pause before being re-elected for another 97 years.
“The Sunday Times was not quite first into the field, when it came to exposing corruption around the Qatar World Cup bid, but it dominated the story as soon as it came into play.
“Its FIFA Files investigation had global impact. It reopened the whole issue of whether Qatar should the venue for the 2022 World Cup by exposing incontrovertible detailed evidence of widespread corruption.
“The initial Qatar Files 11-page investigation of June 2014 was tour de force of broadsheet investigative journalism: a superb exclusive story, brilliantly told exposing genuine corruption and injustice in the world’s most popular and financially lucrative sport.”
2013
New Journalist of the Year
Winner: Patrick Kingsley from The Guardian
What the judges said: “Patrick is a journalist who has been reporting from Egypt since January 2013 at no little risk to himself. He’s been beaten up and arrested as he exposed the toll unrest in that country has taken on unarmed civilians.
“He wrote the dissection of a massacre in a model way – it’s a great piece of reconstruction that leads to revelation.”
Patrick pictured with Javier Millan from Air France-KLM
Finalists:
Alex Ralph from The Times,
Fiona O’Cleirigh from Exaro News
Maeve McClenaghan – from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Sarah Morrison from The Independent
Simon Murphy from the Mail on Sunday
Business, finance and economics journalist of the year – sponsored by Astellas
Winner: Tom Bergin from Reuters
The judges said: “Most of the other journalists writing about the tax affairs of companies like Google and Starbucks are following in his footsteps. He practically wrote the questions for the Commons select committee.”
Tom Bergin pictured below with communications director of Astellas Pharma Europe, Mindy Dooa:
Highly commended:
Sarah O’Connor from the Financial Times
The judges praised her for “some good old-fashioned shoe leather reporting” which saw her investigate conditions at an Amazon warehouse in Rugely.
Finalists:
Laura Kuenssberg from ITV News
Stephen Grey from Reuters
John Gapper from the Financial Times
David Enrich from the Wall Street Journal Europe
Campaign of the Year
Winner: The Sunday Times for Safe Weekend Care – the campaign for a seven-day NHS
The judges said: “This campaign was well presented, planned and coordinated from beginning to end. It was backed up by great reporting and research and has succeeded in getting a national scandal addressed at the highest level.”
Finalists:
Andrew Norfolk from The Times for his ongoing work exposing the scandal of child sexual exploitation and grooming
The Sun’s Fight For April campaign calling for action to curb internet pornography
London Evening Standard for Ladder for London…encouraging London employers to take on more apprentices
Selina Maycock of the Scunthorpe Telegraph for a successful campaign to pay for the wedding of a terminally ill reader
The Sunday Times for Westminster for Sale – its series exposing how lobbyists pay for access to Parliament and the Government
Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year
Winner: Hala Jaber of The Sunday times
The judges said: “Hala Jaber has been there year after year, living in Damascus and covering the conflict from both sides and getting really strong stories.
“Her story about the Assad regime general was one of the few pieces of journalism that tried to get us into the mind of the government side of the conflict – and did so critically.”
Sunday Times editorial director Eleanor Mills accepting the Foreign Journalist of the Year prize on behalf of Hala Jaber from BJA judge Kevin Marsh:
Finalists:
Anthony Loyd of The Times
Katrina Manson from The Financial Times
Kim Sengupta of The Independent
Patrick Cockburn of The Independent
Richard Lloyd Parry – The Times
Photojournalist of the Year
Winner: Richard Pohle – The Times
The judges said that his photo of soldiers taking cover at Camp Bastion was the one stand-out shot of the competition this year - beautiful and atmospheric. They remarked that it was really tough photo to get with the equipment he would have had in that spot.
Finalists:
Jeremy Selwyn of the London Evening Standard
Mark Scott of The Sentinel
Oli Scarff from Getty Images
Suzanne Plunkett from Reuters
Politics Journalists of the Year
Winner: Joe Murphy of the London Evening Standard
The judges praised Murphy for fine writing and three genuine exclusives. The revelation that David Cameron was supporting gay marriage had huge repercussions and his exclusive account of the private Thatcher family funeral service was a fine piece of colour writing.
Joe Murphy with BJA judge professor Peter Cole:
Finalists:
Amelia Gentleman of The Guardian
Janan Ganesh of the Financial Times
Neil Elkes of the Birmingham Post and Mail
Steve Richards of The Independent
Jonathan Calvert and Heidi Blake of The Sunday Times Insight Team
Innovation of the Year
Winner: The Guardian for GuardianWitness
“One of judges said they had downloaded the app and they were using it every day. They felt it brought citizen journalism and user-generated content to a new level by - improving engagement, sourcing great content and doing so in a way that made money for the paper through sponsorship.”
The GuardianWitness team pictured with BJA judge Ian Reeves (right):
Highly commended:
The Sun for Sun+
The Independent for Voices In Danger
Finalists:
Lewis Whyld for his 360-degree interactive camera
The ooh aar Augmented reality platform as used in The Sentinel
The Brixton Bugle and Brixton Blog
Sports journalist of the year sponsored by the Hippodrome Casino
Winner: David Conn – of The Guardian
“All his stories were about some form of corruption in sport. He delves beyond the glitzy veneer of modern football to hold the game’s gilded elite to account.”
David Conn pictured (right) with awards sponsor Simon Thomas of the Hippodrome Casino:
Finalists:
Christian Sylt – freelance for City AM and The Independent
Ian Herbert – of The Independent
Luke Edwards of the Telegraph
Mark Ogden of The Telegraph
Sam Wallace of The Independent
Science and Technology Journalist of the Year sponsored by the Wellcome Trust
Winner: Robin McKie of The Observer
The judges said: “He goes for the biggest subjects and makes technical issues compelling with his approachable style of writing. His piece on a GM rice strain which could save millions from blindess was a particularly fine piece of science writing on a hugely important global issue.”
Robin McKie pictured (right) with director of the Wellcome Trust Prof Jeremy Farrar:
Finalists:
Pallab Ghosh – of the BBC
Leslie Hook of the Financial Times
Helen Thomson of the New Scientist
Gareth Iacubucci of the British Medical Journal
Andrew Gregory of the Daily Mirror
Breaking News Award
Winner: Channel 4 News and Dispatches for Plebgate
This was reporting which forced the Met Police to re-open its investigation into an alleged conspiracy to undermine chief Whip Andrew Mitchell. One police officer is to face trial and five are facing charges for gross misconduct.
The judges said they thought it was a great year for Dispatches and were also hugely impressed with its joint Guardian investigation into police spying on the family of Stephen Lawrence and its investigation into failings at the NHS 111 non-emergency call service.
They praised Dispatches for rigorous public interest journalism of the highest order.
Journalists from the Channel 4 Plebgate team with BJA judge Liz Gerard:
Finalists:
Exaro News – for the Murdoch tape
Tom Harper of The Independent – for Blue chip hacking
Catherine Deveney of The Observer for – top cardinal accused of inappropriate acts by priests
The Sunday Times insight team for – generals for hire
Anthony Lloyd of The Times for his exclusive report on the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack in Syria
Investigation of the year
Winner: Michael Gillard of The Sunday Times for his exposure of gangster David Hunt (the Untouchable)
The judges all agreed that Michael Gillard should win for an 11-year investigation which exposed career criminal and violent gangster David Hunt. The last journalist to investigate Mr Hunt received a head-butt for his troubles. Gillard stayed the course, memorably running rings around Hunt’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC in the High Court.
The judges felt that Gillard edged this prize because of the skill, determination and bravery it took to see this story through.
The Sunday Times succeeded where the collected forces of law enforcement in this country had failed – defeating Hunt in a court of law and obtaining a measure of justice for his victims by public exposing him for the first time.
Highly commended:
The Guardian – For the Snowden Files
Andrew Norfolk of The Times for his work on the child sex grooming scandal
The judges were hugely impressed by the global ramifications of The Guardian’s Snowden files revelations and by Andrew Norfolk’s ongoing dogged investigation into sex grooming. Both are highly commended.
Finalists:
Mark Daily and Murdoch Rodgers of BBC Scotland for Sins of our Fathers
Channel 4 News and Dispatches for Plebgate
Jeanette Oldham of the Birmingham Mail for her investigation into a cancer surgeon with unacceptably high death rates
The Marie Colvin award – sponsored by Syria Relief for the journalist who the judges felt had done the most to raise the reputation of our craft and inspire other journalists.
Former Times foreign editor Richard Beeston (who died of cancer in May of this year aged 50).
Dr Ayman Jundi presenting the Marie Colvin Award to Ben MacIntyre of the The Times and Natasha Beeston:
One of the great foreign editors of The Times – Richard Beeston was a hugely liked and respected figure throughout Fleet Street.
An indefatigable foreign correspondent he covered conflicts in Lebanon, Iraq and Chechnya for The Times.
He exposed Saddam Hussein’s gassing of Kurdish civilians at Hallabja in 1988, reported on atrocities by Serb forces in the Bosnian War of the early 1990s and after 2011 he shone a light on the barberous campaign of general Assad in Syria against his own population.
When one of the judges suggested Richard’s name for the Marie Colvin prize there was immediate and enthusiastic agreement from all the others.
The BJA judges cover a broad cross-section of our diverse industry but they had all been deeply touched by Richard’s contribution to journalism.
As Oliver Kamm wrote in The Times: “Richard Beeston saw his responsibility as finding things out and giving as objective an account as he could manage of the horrors of the conflicts he covered. Objectivity doesn’t mean balance: it means telling the truth about what you discover.”
Journalist of the year, sponsored by Santander
Michael Gillard - Freelance/The Sunday Times
Michael Gillard could not attent the awards and cannot attend public events in London for security reasons. The awarded was accepted on his behalf by his friend the journalist Laurie Flynn and presented by Santander director of communications Jennifer Scardino:
2012
Investigation of the year
(See our showcase of all the award-winning work for this category here)
Winner: Alexi Mostrous and Fay Schlesinger (The Times) – Tax avoidance investigation
Finalists:
- Andrew Norfolk (The Times) – Child grooming
- Chris Woods (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) - Covert War on Terror
- Channel 4 News – Suspended doctors still working
- Jon Austin (Basildon Echo) – Dale Farm travellers’ site coverage
- Nina Lakhani and Andrew Buncombe (The Independent)- How Western pharmaceutical companies use guinea pigs in India
- Paul Lewis and Rob Evans (Guardian News and Media) – Police infiltration of the protest movement
- Leigh Marles (The Wirral Globe) – Justice for Martin and for taxpayers
- Alexi Mostrous and Fay Schesinger (The Times) – Tax avoidance revelations.
- Rupert Neate (Guardian News and Media) – Liam Fox quits, and coverage of the Fox-Werrity scandal)
- Gareth Iacobucci (Pulse Magazine) – Clinical commissioning group calls on PM to drop the Health Bill
- The Guardian – Assad emails exposed
- Jon Ungoed-Thomas (The Sunday Times) – Google grabs secrets of our private lives
- Sunday Times Insight Team – Cash for Cameron: cosy club buys the PM’s ear
- Stuart Ramsay (Sky News) – Reports from the frontline of the Syrian civil war
- Andy Grice (The Independent)
- Jane Merrick (The Independent on Sunday)
- Patrick Wintour (Guardian News and Media)
- Rachel Sylvester (The Times)
- Simon Walters (Mail on Sunday)
New journalist of the year
(See our showcase of all the award-winning work for this category here)
Winner: Emma Slater (The BBC/Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
Finalists:
- Charlie Cooper (The Independent)
- Halina Watts (The People)
- Kevin Rawlinson (The Independent)
- Niall McCracken (The Detail)
- Sarah Morrison (The Independent on Sunday)
- Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)
- Leo Maguire (Freelance for The Sunday Times magazine)
Oli Scarff (Getty Images)
- Peter Macdiarmid (Getty Images)
- Robin Hammond/Panos Pictures ( The Sunday Times magazine)
- The Times – Cities Fit for Cycling Project
- Channel 4 News – No Go Britain (multimedia campaign highlighting the problems faced by disabled transport users)
- John Dale – 24 Hours in Journalism book and investigative project
- Guardian News and Media – Reading the Riots project
- The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
- Channel 4 Dispatches App
- John Sinnott (CNN/Sports Illustrated/The Blizzard)
- Kevin Eason (The Times)
- Mark Daly (BBC Scotland)
- Nick Harris (Mail on Sunday)
- Paul Kelso (The Daily Telegraph)
- Catherine Lea (Hull Daily Mail)
- Chris Giles (Financial Times)
- Deirdre Hipwell (The Times)
- Larry Elliott (Guardian News and Media)
- Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith (Marketing/Brand Republic)
- Nick Mathiason (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
- Fiona Harvey (Guardian News and Media)
- James Murray (Business Green)
- Pallab Ghosh (BBC)
- Suzanne Goldenberg (Guardian News and Media)
- Warren Manger (The Coventry Telegraph)
British Journalism Awards Journalist of the Year for 2012 was David Walsh of the Sunday Times.
A special award was given to the late Marie Colvin and accepted on her behalf by Sunday Times foreign editor Sean Ryan and photographer Paul Conroy.
