Campaigning journalism honoured at Media Freedom Awards 2022
Excellence in campaigning and investigative journalism was last night honoured at the Society of Editors’ inaugural Media Freedom Awards.
Held at the prestigious Globe Theatre in London and attended by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Michelle Donelan MP, the high-profile awards brought together more than 200 journalists from all sectors of the UK news media industry.
Presented by ITV News’ Lucrezia Millarini and held in partnership with WeShop, the big winners of the evening included the Daily Mirror which was crowned the News Media Organisation of the Year while open-source platform Bellingcat was named the International News Media Organisation of the Year. The evening also saw PA Media presented with the Judges’ Media Freedom Award by the Culture Secretary.
For a full list of winners, photos and news reports see here.
Culture Secretary vows to “protect journalists”
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has vowed to “protect journalists” with upcoming legislation to tackle the dominance of technology platforms.
Speaking at the Society’s Media Freedom Awards last night, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan MP, confirmed that the government would be pushing forward with legislation to repeal Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act as well as adding substantial protections for journalists in the Online Safety Bill when it returns to parliament “within weeks”.
Speaking ahead of presenting the evening’s Media Freedom Award to PA Media for its commitment to maintaining open justice on behalf of the wider news industry, Donelan paid tribute to those in attendance and their vital role in holding power to account.
Read more here.
Society “strongly condemns” arrest of journalists covering protests
The Society has said that it is deeply concerned and “strongly condemns” the arrest this week of journalists covering Just Stop Oil protests.
The Society’s intervention comes after LBC reporter Charlotte Lynch told Nick Ferrari’s LBC Breakfast show on Wednesday morning how she was arrested on Tuesday by Hertfordshire Police while covering a protest by the climate activist group. Lynch’s arrest comes only a day after reports that officers from Hertfordshire constabulary had arrested documentary film maker Rich Felgate and photographer Tom Bowles on Monday. All had been covering protests by Just Stop Oil on the M25.
Read the Society’s full statement here.