Young Journalist of the Year: Nominees
This award is supported by the Cecil King Foundation
Open to journalists aged 26 or under on 31 December 2020 and entries can include work from any journalistic discipline. Judges will be looking for the individual who has made significant impact over the year. This award is supported by the Cecil King Foundation and the winner will receive a £5,000 bursary to be used for travel to research an agreed article or series of articles for their title.
THE SHORTLIST
Abbianca Makoni, Evening Standard
- Meghan and Harry’s call for change: ‘End structural racism in Britain’
- ‘Some days can be tough’: The court monitors who track wildlife crime cases in Kenya to ensure poachers are jailed
- Food For London Now appeal: Foodie family gives one addict a new will to live
The judges said: “Abbianca scooped Fleet Street with her world exclusive interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
Ethan Ennals, The Mail on Sunday
- Revealed: how thousands died of coronavirus they caught in hospital
- Would you willingly catch Covid to test the vaccine that could save us all?
- Government test tsar has £770k shares in firm that sold us £13m of ‘pointless’ kits
The judges said: “In an extraordinary year, Ethan produced three excellent stories on Covid and the devastation it caused.”
Katie Whyatt, The Athletic UK
- Jordan Dawes: The goalkeeper whose story touched David de Gea and Louis Tomlinson
- ‘If we’d not been running, we would’ve been in the blast zone – we’d be dead’
- What’s it like to play football on your period?
The judges said: “Katie writes with real compassion and empathy as shown by the article on Jordan Dawes. Equally admirable is the way she has explored aspects of sport which are sometimes unreported from a unique perspective.”
Megan Agnew, The Sunday Times Magazine
- Wherever I lay my leather trousers, that’s my home
- From social influencer to online sex worker
- Buoy’s club: What’s it like to work on board a superyacht?
The judges said: “Engaging writing with a strong voice. Megan provides a fascinating insight to her work, bringing her writing to life with great colour and attention to detail.”
Rachel Lloyd, The Economist
- Creative destruction: The jolting artistry of Michaela Coel
- Adults across the world are listening to bedtime stories
- Vengeance is hers: A new breed of feminist avengers are righting overlooked wrongs
The judges said: “Excellent coverage of the arts in time of Covid crisis. With a mature writing style Rachel’s work is very absorbing.”
Sarah Newey, The Telegraph
- Chinese authorities scramble to identify cause of mysterious disease outbreak
- Hope among the horror: What now for care homes abandoned to Covid?
- A perfect storm: How did one city lose so many to Covid-19?
The judges said: “Sarah clearly has wonderful observational skills and an ear for a good quote. Great writing brings her reporting to life.”
Will Brown, The Telegraph
- After the bombs they attacked with knives, claim Ethiopians fleeing peace prize winner’s war
- ‘They come, they shoot, they burn’: How escalating horror in the Sahel has left more than a million displaced
- Investigation: African migrants ‘left to die’ in Saudi Arabia’s hellish Covid detention centres
The judges said: “Bold and brave reporting – quite literally goes the extra mile to report extraordinary stories from the world’s conflict zones.”
