The Daily Mail built on its success at the Press Awards by scooping daily newspaper of the year at yesterday’s London Press Club Awards 2012.
Controversial columnist Richard Littlejohn picked up the Edgar Wallace Trophy, which celebrates “writing or reporting of the highest quality”, and Sky News reporter Alex Crawford – the four-time winner of the RTS Journalist of the Year Award – won broadcast journalist of the year.
BBC Panorama’s investigation into care home abuse won the scoop of the year prize and The Sunday Times was named Sunday newspaper of the year.
The Daily Mail dominated this year’s Press Awards, winning newspapers of the year, website of the year, news team of the year, campaign of the year and the Cudlipp Award for outstanding tabloid journalism.
Judges at the London Press Club Awards said the Daily Mail was ‘impossible to ignore’and displayed ‘outstanding journalistic aptitude’and ‘superb professionalism”, highlighting its coverage of the Stephen Lawrence case.
Judges said Littlejohn’s column was an ‘instrument’that he used like ‘a club or rapier to savage hypocrisy, prick pomposity and lampoon the foibles and failures of politicians of all parties”.
His citation read: ‘This year’s recipient is, in modern cliché terms, a Marmite columnist: you either love him or loathe him. But, unlike Marmite, you can’t forget him and you can’t ignore him.”
Here is the full list of winners from this year’s London Press Club Awards:
Broadcasting journalist of the year
Alex Crawford, Sky News
Consumer journalist of the year
Ian Cowie, The Daily and Sunday Telegraph
Business journalist of the year
Mark Kleinman, Sky News
Scoop of the year
Care Home Abuse, Panorama
Edgar Wallace Trophy
Richard Littlejohn, Daily Mail
Daily newspaper of the year
Daily Mail
Sunday newspaper of the year
The Sunday Times
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