Thursday 21 April 2016
The shortlists for the Orwell Prize for Journalism and the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils were announced today, Thursday 21st April 2016.
- Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils recognises journalism addressing social issues ranging from revelations about HSBC’s conduct in Switzerland to failings within the NHS.
- Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils shortlist recognises outstanding and innovative reporting of social issues in the UK across different media outlets
- Prize for Journalism recognises a variety of journalism from frontline investigative reporting, to important critical analysis and sage comment on a variety of the world’s most important arenas.
The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing. It is awarded each year to the books and journalism which come closest to George Orwell’s ambition to ‘make political writing into an art’. The Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils rewards multi-media journalism featuring original, innovative and insightful reporting on social issues in the UK, and is sponsored and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The judges for the Orwell Prize for Journalism 2016 are Frances Cairncross, John Lloyd and Richard Tait. The judges for the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils are Emily Ashton, Nicholas Timmins and Julia Unwin. The shortlists for the Orwell Prize for Books were also announced today. The winner of each £3000 prize will be announced at a ceremony on 26th May 2016. The Orwell Prize was established by the late Sir Bernard Crick in its present form in 1993, awarding its first Prizes in 1994. Past winners include Martin Chulov (2015), Andrew Norfolk (2013) Peter Hitchens (2010) and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (2002). The winner of the inaugural Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils 2015 was Alison Holt. The Orwell Prize for Journalism 2016: Shortlist Oliver Bullough (British GQ, Granta, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4) Iona Craig (Al Jazeera America, BBC Radio 4, The Intercept, RTE Radio 1, The Independent) David Gardner (Financial Times) Shiraz Maher (New Statesman, The Guardian) Douglas Murray (The Spectator, Standpoint) Gideon Rachman (Financial Times) Louise Tickle (The Guardian, Family Law) The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils 2016: Shortlist Michael Buchanan, Investigation into NHS failings (BBC) Financial Times Team: Sally Gainsbury, Sarah Neville, John Burn-Murdoch, The Austerity State (Financial Times) Nicci Gerrard: Words Fail Us (The Observer) Jackie Long, Job Rabkin and Lee Sorrell, Detention Undercover: Inside Yarl’s Wood (Channel 4) Team from the London Evening Standard: David Cohen, Kiran Mensah and Matt Writtle, The Estate We’re In (London Evening Standard) The HSBC Files Journalists: David Pegg, James Ball, Juliette Garside and David Leigh, The HSBC Files (The Guardian) For more information, please contact Stephanie Le Lievre at stephanie.lelievre@orwellfoundation.com or on 020 7848 7930