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March 31, 2009updated 01 Apr 2009 1:59pm

Live blog: British Press Awards 2009

By admin

Follow the awards live on Twitter
The full shortlist

6.30pm: The drinks reception is getting underway at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. We’ll be announcing the winners on this live blog from about 8.45pm – and there’ll be a full list of winners, pictures, audio and video on PressGazette.co.uk shortly afterwards. That’s the plan anyway. You can also find out who’s won within seconds of the announcement by following @bpa2009 on Twitter.

8pm: “Gorgeous electric string quartet Escala” have taken to the stage. They’re doing an interpretation of the 1995 Robert Miles trance track “Children”, fact fans.

8.15pm: Bob Satchwell (chairman of the judges): “In my next life, I want to come back as a cello.”

8.20pm: Canon David Meara shoehorns the name of every national newspaper into grace. Time for food.

8.50pm: Jon Snow’s here. “We must have a commitment to local journalism because without local there is no national; without national there is no international.”

8.55pm: First nine awards coming up now…

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YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Tom Harper, the Mail on Sunday
Highly commended: Sam Jones, Financial Times

CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR
Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph (for the second year running)

CRITIC OF THE YEAR
Philip French, The Observer

DIGITAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Dave Hill, The Guardian (here’s his blog)

INTERVIEWER OF THE YEAR

Decca Aitkenhead, The Guardian
Highly commended: Ginny Dougary, The Times.

SHOWBIZ REPORTER OF THE YEAR
James Desborough, News of the World
Highly commended: Richard White, The Sun

SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Dickie Pelham, The Sun
Highly commended: Dylan Martinez from Reuters.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Stefan Rousseau, PA Photos.

SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Matthew Syed, The Times
Highly commended: Ian Stafford, Mail on Sunday

We caught up with Matthew Syed over dinner.

“I have had wonderful opportunity to write and I appreciate that very much,” he says.

“It’s funny in sport – one develops self-esteem as they get to the top. There’s a very objective way of measuring that. In journalism it’s easy to get insecure. Some recognition is something that I’m very grateful for.”

9.55pm: Big bleedy slab of venison. Saving room for the sticky toffee pudding. More awards now…

BUSINESS AND FINANCE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Stephen Foley, The Independent

SCOOP OF THE YEAR
“Ross and Brand”, Miles Goslett, Mail on Sunday

COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR
Charlie Brooker, The Guardian

SPECIALIST JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Stephen Wright, Daily Mail
Highly commended: Sarah-Kate Templeton, The Sunday Times

CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Camilla Cavendish – The Times (Family Courts)
Highly commended: The Sunday Times, Sarah-Kate Templeton (Right To Pay)

FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Philip Jacobson, Freelance (Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday)
Highly commended: Tanya Gold, Freelance (Daily Mail and Guardian)

Jacobson thanks Robin Morgan, editor of the Sunday Times magazine. “Mate, we’re gonna miss you.”

SUPPLEMENT OF THE YEAR
You magazine, the Mail on Sunday

WEBSITE OF THE YEAR
Guardian.co.uk (for the second year running)

CUDLIPP AWARD
Race War, Stephen Wright/Richard Pendlebury of the Daily Mail

POLITICAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
He dedicates the award to the speaker of the House of Commons.

FOREIGN REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Dan McDougall, Freelance (Observer, News of the World, Mail on Sunday Live Magazine)
“It’s great that you’ve given this to a freelance journalist, thank you very much.”

REPORTER OF THE YEAR
Christopher Leake, Mail on Sunday
Highly commended: Andrew Alderson, The Sunday Telegraph
Also highly commended: Jon Ungoed-Thomas, The Sunday Times

10.25pm: Dessert and coffee. Three awards to go (journalist of the year, international journalist and newspaper of the year) presented by Vince Cable, Lib Dem deputy leader. Back soonish.

11.10pm: Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand, editor of an Iranian weekly closed by the authorities is INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR. He cannot make it as he is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

11.15pm: JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR goes to Gillian Tett from the Financial Times.

And the big one, NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR, is… The Times. “All round excellence”.

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