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The British Journalism Awards for public interest journalism will be held in December at a venue in London to be announced.
Launched in 2012, this event is unique among the major journalism prizes in the UK in that it is open to all journalists working across all types of media.
Created partly as a response to the hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry, these awards aim to celebrate and promote great journalism which is both interesting to the public AND in the public interest.
Last year the winners ranged from the Guardian’s Amelia Gentleman who collected the Journalist of the Year award for her reporting on the Windrush scandal to Buzzfeed LGBT editor Patrick Strudwick who took the Specialist Journalism prize.
The 50+ British Journalism Awards judges include 11 former national newspaper editors and are chosen for their experience and expertise. The judges are chaired by Press Gazette editor-in-chief Dominic Ponsford.
The British Journalism Awards has grown every year since it was first held at Stationers' Hall in the City of London six years ago. It is now a drinks reception, three-course dinner and awards ceremony.
Last year the award attracted nearly 500 entries from every major national news organisation in the UK.
Ponsford said: “The British Journalism Awards is an event which is unashamedly idealistic in its aims, but this doesn’t mean that great popular journalism won’t be recognised.
"On the contrary, this event is as much about celebrating sensational journalism in the mould of that promoted by the Daily Mirror’s Hugh Cudlipp as it is about recognising high-minded investigations of the sort pursued by the Sunday Times Insight Team under Harold Evans.
“Crucially, the British Journalism Awards will recognise the best journalists of the year regardless of the medium they work on – be it print, online or broadcasting."
For information about sponsorship, please contact commercial manager Kalpesh Vadher at kalpesh.vadher@pressgazette.co.uk or 0203 096 2261.
To enquire about tickets for the awards dinner, please email pged@pressgazette.co.uk or call 0207 936 6436.
Entries will open on 1 August 2019.
Application events and deadlines
Open to Entries at the Early Bird Rate
Entries close
Entries close for judging
Judging days
7pm Drinks Reception 8pm Dinner Served 9:15pm Awards Ceremony to commence 10:30pm Post Awards Drinks
Open to Entries at the Early Bird Rate
Entries close
Entries close for judging
Judging days
7pm Drinks Reception 8pm Dinner Served 9:15pm Awards Ceremony to commence 10:30pm Post Awards Drinks
For the journalist who has done the most to probe and investigate the world of business. Collaborative entries are accepted.
For the series of articles, broadcasts or digital project which has done the most to make a difference in society and serve the public interest. You cannot enter the same work in Campaign and Investigation categories.
Judges will be looking for evidence of a campaign’s impact, originality, bravery, skill of execution and at how journalism has been used to further the campaign’s objectives.
This new category is for the best comment journalist of the year.
The judges are looking for the most incisive comment which has brought new ideas and thinking to bear when discussing a matter of public interest.
Award for the best journalism covering crime, courts and the law. Individual and collaborative entries are accepted. For print/online entries provide up to three supporting articles. For broadcasters up to three video or audio news clips of interviews can be submitted. Supporting statement of up to 500 words.
This is for the best features journalist of the year. It rewards excellent journalism on a matter of public interest which could be descriptive, of a human interest nature or based on an interview. This category is not intended for investigations or comment. Open to broadcasters, written pieces and digital projects. Collaborative entries are accepted.
For the journalist working for a UK audience, whose reports from overseas have done the most to serve the public interest. For print/online entries, provide up to three supporting articles. For broadcasters, up to three video or audio news clips, or one news programme (half hour or longer) can be submitted. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted. Supporting statement of up to 500 words.
Aimed at journalists who cover health and the healthcare industry. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted. For print/online entries provide up to three supporting articles. For broadcasters up to three video or audio news clips, or one news programme (half hour or longer), can be submitted. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted. Supporting statement of up to 500 words.
This category is for the best journalism innovation of the year.
The judges are looking for a project which brings new information to light on a matter of public interest either directly, or indirectly by creating a new stream of revenue.
Innovative digital storytelling can be submitted in this category but it is also open to print and broadcast work.
Suitable entries could include:
A new editorial product or method of storytelling which has found a new audience
An innovative way of investigating a story
A paywall or other commercial strategy which helps to pay for journalism.
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Award for the best interviewer of the last year. For print/online entries provide up to three supporting articles. For broadcasters up to three video or audio news clips of interviews can be submitted. Supporting statement of up to 500 words.
For the most incisive and revelatory public interest investigation of the year (you cannot enter the same work in Campaign and Investigation). Collaborative (team) entries are accepted.
The judges will be looking for work which is compelling and which brings significant new information to light on a matter of public interest.
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This category is for the best journalism at a local and regional level.
It is open to local newspapers, websites and broadcast outlets. Those working for news outlets aimed at a national audience cannot enter this category.
Journalists can enter this category as individuals or teams. They may want to highlight one particular project, investigation, campaign or linked series of news stories.
The judges are looking for work which has done the most to bring new information to light on a matter of public interest and for journalism which has made a difference for the better at a local level.
This category was launched in memory of the late Sunday Times foreign correspondent Marie Colvin – who was killed reporting on the plight of people in the besieged Syrian city of Homs in 2012.
It is free to enter and anyone can make a nomination.
The judges are looking for a journalist who has raised the reputation of journalism and journalists through their efforts to bear witness to events in the way that Colvin did. The judges are particularly keen to recognise and encourage younger journalists who could be a “new Marie in the making” as one put it.
This award is for a relative newcomer to the industry (who may have worked in other jobs before) and has been a journalist for less than 36 months. Work most show evidence of being revelatory and serving the public interest.
The judges are looking for the new journalist who has done the most to bring new information to light on a matter of public interest.
For the news organisation which has done the most to provide journalism which is interesting to the public and in the public interest. Open to newspapers, magazines, websites and broadcast outlets. This new category is for the news provider which has excelled in terms of serving the public interest and bringing new information to light. It is open to individual newspaper and magazine titles, websites and broadcast news programmes. News channels can enter this award as can news agencies. The judges are looking for a news provider which stands out because of the quality of its investigative journalism and ability to break news on matters of public interest.
For the photographer whose work has done the most to serve the public interest. Submit up to three photos (Jpeg files). Entrants can also provide PDFs of the photos as they appeared in print or online. Six-file limit per entry. Supporting statement of up to 500 words.
This category is for the best politics journalism published in any format aimed at a mainly UK audience.
The judges are looking for work which brings new information to light and which serves the public interest. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted.
Aimed at journalists who cover science and the environment. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted. For print/online entries provide up to three supporting articles. For broadcasters up to three video or audio news clips, or one news programme (half hour or longer), can be submitted. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted. Supporting statement of up to 500 words.
This is the prize for the best story of the year (you can only enter one story for this award).
The judges are looking for work which had an impact, brought new information to light and which served the public interest.
Aimed at the sports journalist who has done the most to investigate the world of sport and serve the public interest. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted.
Preference will be given to articles which are revelatory and which hold those involved in sport to account.
For the journalist who has done the most over the course of the year to investigate the world of technology and serve the public interest. Collaborative (team) entries are accepted.
Meet the judges
Journalism professor and Freedom of Information campaigner
Michael Crozier is Editorial Director of Crozier Associates
Emeritus professor of journalism at Sheffield University
LUKE BLAIR, VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Freelance journalist and media consultant
Martin is the director of B2B content and communications agency Itsdevelopmental Ltd, which he set up after 17 years of working in business journalism at Reed Business Information.
Ralph Cunningham is a freelance editor and writer, and the director of the Hong Kong-based Sands Street Media Limited
Brian Flynn is a former investigations editor of The Sun.
Alan Geere’s 40-year career in newspaper management
Leon Hawthorne is a journalist, broadcaster, erstwhile TV executive and consultant on digital content strategy for newspaper and magazine groups.
Former editor of The Sunday Times Insight Team and of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Dr Paul Lashmar is Deputy Head of Journalism at City, University of London
Anthony Longden has been a journalist for 36 years
Former BBC producer and editor of 10 books on journalism
Gren Manuel is formerly executive editor for Europe for the Wall Street Journal and editor of Financial News.
Rob McGibbon is an author and freelance journalist who as written for numerous national newspapers and magazines since 1986. He is also a producer at Scoop Films
CEO and founder of Iconic Images
A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sam Ogle began his journalistic career on the Belfast Telegraph evening newspaper at the height of the IRA bombing campaign in the 1970s. At that time, and in those circumstances, there was no shortage of hard news to be covered. Later, he plied his trade for four years as an expatriate in the Ivory Coast followed by two years in Senegal and two in New York. Now resident in London, he edited Think Law magazine before specialising for the last thirteen years in the automotive logistics and supply chain industry. He has been editor of several automotive publications and, for the last six-and-a-half years, Automotive Purchasing & Supply Chain. He has moderated, and taken part in, panel discussions at automotive conferences in the UK, the USA, Russia, Turkey, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Mexico.
Iain Overton is an author and campaigner.
Director of Business and Communications, ECA
Sean Ryan is the media director of Save the Children
Becky Slack has spent most of her career writing for, and editing, specialist titles, ranging from charity sector trade magazines through to B2B supplements for publications, such as the New Statesman, Guardian and Independent.
Independent Media blogger/freelance Journalist
Moira Sleight is Editor and Publisher of the Methodist Recorder weekly national newspaper and a Board member of both the Society of Editors and the London Press Club.
Hannah is a Copywriter and Award’s Editorial Manager for AI Global Media, a specialist B2B publishing house whose titles include Acquisition International Magazine, Wealth & Finance International and SME News.
Jeremy Thompson is one of the UK’s most experienced and acclaimed TV newsmen
Richard Vize (@RichardVize) has been a commentator on public policy and public services reform for more than 25 years
Tim Walker is a writer, author and broadcaster. He has worked on the staffs of The Observer, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, where he edited the Mandrake diary for 12 years.
The 2019 British Journalism Awards are sponsored by
Transparency International UK (TI-UK) is the UK chapter of Transparency International, the global movement against corruption. TI-UK fights corruption by promoting changes in values attitudes and behaviour at home and abroad, through programmes that draw on the UK’s unique position as a global political and financial centre. TI-UK successfully campaigned for the introduction of the UK Bribery Act and more recently the Criminal Finances Act that will make it tougher for corrupt individuals to use the UK to launder stolen money.
Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google's innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognised in the world. The Google News Initiative, launched in March 2018, is Google's effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in a digital age. The GNI will advance solutions across 3 major pillars where the news industry faces challenges and opportunities today: elevating and strengthening quality journalism, evolving business models to drive sustainable growth, and empowering news organisations through technological innovation.
I’ve won one or two broadcasting awards before but this is a wider award covering the whole of the British media and that’s what makes it extra special.
It gets bigger and better every year and celebrating journalism still somehow feels like an act of defiance... I remain delighted that science reporting takes it’s place alongside politics and business and this year... lots of awards I attend feel indulgent and irrelevant. This one feels important.
It was much more fun than rival awards ceremonies and much better to meet fellow journalists and award winners.
A reminder of all that is best about British journalism in a very good venue with a very good audience. Congratulations on a great awards ceremony. I thought it was a really good atmosphere – and helped remind us of the importance of the brilliant journalism that we can all be proud of. We were pleased to be part of the evening.
It was a very inspiring night.
It was a huge honour to be nominated alongside so many great names from the industry.
Congratulations to Press Gazette on a timely, welcome initiative. Press Gazette is one of the institutions that underpins our industry - much in vogue these days - and what you have done is very important for us all.
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