This category is aimed at specialist and trade publications. Specialist journalists working in other media can enter if they are not covered by one of the other categories. The judges are looking for work which shows journalistic skill and rigour, is revelatory and which serves the public interest. For print/online entries, please provide up to three examples of work. Broadcasters can submit up to three clips or one entire programme in support of their entry. A supporting statement of up 500 words must also be included. Collaborative entries are accepted. Work should have been published between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023 and aimed at a UK audience.
Specialist Journalism
John Burn-Murdoch
Financial Times
- UK healthcare is already being privatised, but not in the way you think
- Chronic illness makes UK workforce the sickest in developed world
- The NHS is being squeezed in a vice
The judges said Burn-Murdoch’s stories “show how you can use to data to provide fresh insight and news lines,” describing him as a “great communicator who creates powerful narratives”.
Paul Thacker
The BMJ
- Conflicts of interest among the UK government’s covid-19 advisers
- Tracking down John Bell: how the case of the Oxford professor exposes a transparency crisis in government
- Covid-19: How independent were the US and British vaccine advisory committees?
The judges said: “This was expertly researched and written journalism on a subject of huge national importance.”
Jeremy Vine and awards judge Janet Kersnar, executive editor of the Business of Fashion, present the Specialist Journalism award at the British Journalism Awards 2021 to a colleague of Paul Thacker at the BMJ
Lawrence Dunhill
Health Service Journal
• Exclusive: Critical care unit overwhelmed by coronavirus patients
• Exclusive: Intensive care staffing ratios dramatically diluted
• Revealed: Three regions overtake London on ‘excess’ deaths
The judges said: “This was agenda-setting journalism and one of the most critical stories of the year as we were going into lockdown in the UK. It showed the huge value of journalists who have a specialist beat in these areas. This was a story which had a massive impact and played a crucial role informing the national debate.”
John Dickens
Schools Week
• Exposed: Agnew’s £35m school waste claims
Judges said: “This was well written and used data intelligently to explain and augment the stories. This was journalism which had a strong narrative and a significant impact on the political agenda.”
