British Press Awards: Bragging rights

Posted by Martin Stabe on 22 March 2006 at 10:32
Tags: Art Newspaper, British Press Awards, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Mirror, Sun

Now that the British Press Awards have been announced, let the bigging-up begin.

The papers are busy bragging about their successes. The Mirror yesterday said Sports Writer of the Year Oliver Holt is “simply the best”. Today the tabloid’s web site boasts that it “scooped three gongs at the prestigious British Press Awards proving we are unbeatable for news and sport.” In addition to Holt, the Mirror’s Stephen Moyes won Scoop of the Year for the “cocaine Kate”. The paper also also took Team of the Year for its 7 July coverage.

[Update: Strangely, a new version of the story has just gone up on the Mirror web site, changing the boast to the more modest "proving our unbeatable talent for news and sport". That version also appears in the dead-tree form. Perhaps the Mirror can be beat, after all.]

Rival redtop the Sun yesterday brags of scooping “an amazing hat-trick of gongs“: reporter of the Year Oliver Harvey, Showbusiness Reporter of the Year Victoria Newton the “Harry the Nazi” splash that won Front Page of the Year.

The Indy notes that Hamish McRae “beat an impressive field which included the new editor of the Sunday Telegraph, Patience Wheatcroft”, to win Business and Finance Journalist of the Year while Francis Elliott of the Independent on Sunday was named Political Journalist of the Year. Also noting Elliott’s award is the News & Star in Cumbria, where he once worked.

The FT’s Columnist of the Year Lucy Kellaway got just a one-sentence nib on the front of yesterday’s Pink ‘Un, but the Guardian carries news of its “Newspaper of the Year” title in the biggest font size possible above the masthead. Inside, the City Diary begins the inevitable nitty-gritty gossip about who was sitting where:

One Indy staffer who has no need to strike is Jason Nissé. The business editor of the Independent on Sunday yesterday crossed the journalism/PR divide to join Barclay’s press office. Nissé was straddling both his past and future careers on Monday night, sitting on the Barclays table at the British Press Awards. We hear he also bonded in the past with Barclay’s former press chief Chris Tucker (who left to travel the world) over a mutual love of Arsenal.

The Art Newspaper didn’t even win, losing out to the Mirror for Team of the Year. But being singled out for special commendation was honour enough for the specialist title, which was a surprise finalist for its in-depth coverage of the Sheikh Saud affair. The paper notes Jon Snow’s words when presenting the award: “The judges were very impressed with the Art Newspaper’s brilliant scoop by a small team which exposed one of the great art stories of the decade.”