Innovation of the Year

Innovation of the Year

Innovation of the Year

This category is for the best journalism innovation of the year. The judges are looking for a project which brings new information to light on a matter of public interest either directly or indirectly by creating a new stream of revenue. Innovative digital storytelling can be submitted in this category but it is also open to print and broadcast work. Suitable entries could include:  

  • A new editorial product or method of storytelling which has found a new audience 
  • An innovative way of investigating a story 
  • A paywall or other commercial strategy which helps to pay for journalism.

Please provide supporting statement of up to 500 words. For print/online entries please submit up to five supporting articles. Broadcasters should submit up to five clips or one entire programme to support their entry. This innovation should either have been launched between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2024 and aimed at a UK audience.

WINNERS

Dan Russell, Jenna Thompson and Rachel Gorman

Reach

Sponsored by Google News Initiative

The judges said: “This was pioneering use of a tech platform, which is ubiquitous yet under-used by publishers, to deliver meaningful audience engagement.”

Eco-Bot.Net

The judges said: “Genuinely innovative, this project combined data-scraping, AI and expert journalism and design to expose misinformation on social media.”

Thomas Lewton and Alice McCool at the British Journalism Awards 2022 collecting the Innovation of the Year award. Picture: ASV Photography Ltd for Press Gazette

Sophia Smith Galer

BBC/Vice World News

The judges said her work on TikTok was “consistently engaging and witty whilst always rigorously fact-based and fresh. Their range, reach and impact have been thoroughly impressive”.

British Journalism Award winner Sophie Smith Galer pictured with Jeremy Vine and Matt Cooke of sponsor Google

Roger Cox

The Scotsman Sessions, The Scotsman

• The Scotsman Sessions

The judges said: “This was a different, warm and appropriate response to the pandemic just as everyone’s access to live events had stopped and their stress levels were high. It kept artists going and it was great to see a newspaper get involved and offer a solution rather than watch from the sidelines.”

Tortoise

• ThinkIn