24 January 2007
At a ceremony held at Bafta, the winners of the 2006 Workworld media awards were announced by Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation
Sponsored by AMEC, the awards are now in their 20th year and attracted an unprecedented number of entries. The speaker at the event was Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, and the AMEC lifetime achievement award was presented to the former editor of The Economist, Bill Emmott.
The winners, with judges’ comments, are:
Regional Newspaper journalist award - Ian McConnell, The Herald
A true all-rounder - at home equally in news, features and comment - Ian McConnell knows his patch, is widely respected, and gets good access and excellent stories because of it.
Radio Programme Award - ‘Life After Rover’, BBC Radio 4
This programme will stand the test of time of time as a work of lasting significance. A three-parter examining what happened to the workers made redundant from Rover, it was at once moving, hopeful and utterly fascinating. It was also beautifully presented by Adrian Chiles.
Online Award - Hazards
The Online category today attracts some very impressive entries. Health and safety is not an easy area to cover, yet Hazards.org is so good that it not only renders the material detailed and probing, but also lively and gutsy as well. Anyone who hasn’t seen it should go and have a look.
The ‘One to watch’ Award - Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Dow Jones Newswires
What clinched this category was a magnificent report into Mittal Steel and the company’s safety record in central and eastern Europe. The piece was well-sourced, probing, and a great example of thorough, thoughtful journalism. The winner has a real eye for a story and a gift for putting it together properly.
Commended - Rachel Horne, Working Lunch, BBC2
Regional broadcast -
‘Wales@Work
BBC Radio Wales
A wide-ranging magazine programme, which looks at work, business and industry, Wales@Work exemplifies all that is best about the BBC - intelligent, balanced, informative, public service-oriented and with high production values. It picks surprising subjects, researches them thoroughly and brings them to life through well-cast discussions. We await with anticipation a national equivalent.
Columnist of the Year - Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph
Liam Halligan is a forceful argument specialist, a writer of red-meat eating, fire-breathing columns. His writing is pacey and uncompromising - and he doesn’t let up until he has changed your mind.
Commended: Simon Caulkin, The Observer
Magazine Journalist - Aimee Turner, Flight International
Aimee Turner breathes life and relevance into her subject. She writes elegantly and accessibly on matters of great significance in the aviation industry, and without question told the judges more things they didn’t know than anyone else. It was a pleasure to read her pieces.
Scoop of the year - Inside Out, BBC Newcastle
The winner of this category was a fantastic investigation into the antics of parking attendants in Sunderland. Its findings made one’s jaw drop and one’s blood boil. Using hidden cameras, it alleged racism, vindictiveness and corruption among parking attendants and led to the loss of a contract and staff dismissals after it was screened. A local story with national significance, and a nicely produced and presented piece of work.
Magazine Feature of the Year - Alison Wolf, Working Girls, Prospect
This award went not to a professional journalist, but to an academic. Her piece in Prospect about the diverse nature of women’s work and lives, and the decline of the service ethic, was a brilliant piece of writing - provocative, unorthodox and perceptive, but well-argued as well.
Commended - Andy Saunders, ‘Fixing the Tube’, Management Today
Broadcast news journalism Award - Faisal Islam, Channel 4 News
Faisal Islam’s reports put genuinely new information on air and do so with real panache. They have depth and authority, and in the case of his report on the rise of Gazprom, gave rise to geopolitical insights that had not been properly considered before. Truly excellent reporting.
Print journalist of the year - Philip Thornton
Philip Thornton has a knack for telling big stories crisply - someone who puts the needs of his readers first. His writing is stylish and thoughtful. He has recently embarked on a freelance career after a stint as economics correspondent for The Independent, and the judges wished him success.
Television Programme of the Year - ‘Public Service/Private Profit’, Steve Boulton Productions, for Dispatches, Channel 4
The winner of this category was an hour-long documentary that exposed the bizarre and wasteful economics behind the Private Finance Initiative. Merely getting it on air was a huge achievement. But this was also passionate, polemical, and commanding investigative journalism. It had structure, pace and leaves the viewer well-informed, but angry too.
AMEC Lifetime achievement Award - Bill Emmott
Bill Emmott will be remembered as one of the great editor’s in all the Economist’s distinguished 163-year history. Not only has he taken circulation past the magic million mark, but he has successfully made The Economist the key source for insight and sparkling writing on business, management, and globalisation. Bill is currently writing a book about the relationship between China and Japan. The judges wished him every success and thanked him for all he has done.
Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation said: ‘It is amazing to think the Workworlds have now been running for 20 years. This year, though, we not only had an unprecedented number of entries, but, in my opinion, the standard keeps on getting better. Thank you to all who entered and who have made the awards such a success.’
Notes to editors
- The Workworld media awards were held at Bafta, 195 Piccadilly in London on 23 January 2007.
- The judges were: David Lloyd, professor of journalism at City University, and formerly head of news and current affairs at Channel 4; Baroness Kingsmill of Holland Park, former deputy chair of the Competition Commission; Richard Donkin, FT Columnist and author; Professor Peter Nolan, director of the Future of Work programme; Trevor Merriden, former editor of Human Resources magazine; Charles Reynolds, head of media at AMEC plc; and Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation.
- The Work Foundation is an independent research organisation and consultancy, which campaigns to improve the quality of working life.
- The awards are sponsored by AMEC, and the lifetime achievement award was presented by AMEC CEO Samir Brikho.
- Media calls to Stephen Overell
44 (0) 20 7976 3507 or 07966 252724.