Brilliant journalism during the pandemic lockdown year is celebrated in the Press Awards for 2020 announced today.
Individual journalists and teams are honoured for their work in a historic year in which newsrooms emptied almost overnight and journalists had to find new ways of working at a critical time for the nation.
The Press Awards 2020 organisers said: “Despite this disruption, the press continued to do its job: representing the interests of readers, holding power to account, and telling the story of the human impact of the virus. As fake news online put lives at risk, the press, with its high editorial standards, presented news that could be trusted.”
The awards celebrate the broad spectrum of the press and judges drawn from every title ensure that excellence is recognised in all areas, whether broadsheet or tabloid, in print or online.
The awards highlight coverage about diversity – and also reflect the determination of the industry to tackle the challenge of creating more diverse newsrooms. There is a Special Award for the Journalism Diversity Fund, which is funded by the industry and is celebrating 15 years of success, during which time it has granted more than 400 bursaries to help journalists enter the industry.
Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the National Council for Training Journalists, said: “We are so pleased that the Journalism Diversity Fund has been given this special award by the Press Awards. It is recognition of the JDF’s achievements since it was established in 2005, and a reminder of the significant amount of work that remains to be done to make the news media sector more accessible and truly representative.”
The News Website of the Year is theguardian.com, with the ft.com highly commended.
Sunday Newspaper of the Year is The Sunday Times, with The Mail on Sunday highly commended.
Daily Newspaper of the Year is the Daily Mail, with the Daily Mirror highly commended.
A virtual gallery of winners appears here.
The Press Awards are sponsored by Camelot, a supporter since 2001, Facebook Journalism Project, Google, Amazon, Luther Pendragon, Springer Nature, Newsworks, The Careers Office, DialAFlight, the Cecil King Memorial Foundation, the Journalists’ Charity, and the British Journalism Review.