Four journalists, including veteran Daily Mail foreign correspondent and Press Gazette Hall of Fame member Ann Leslie, are included in the Queen’s New Year Honours list.

Leslie, who has reported from more than 70 countries, was awarded the DME, the highest award for women. She said: ‘I’m shocked and astonished, but very pleased. There have been some very good women journalists but not many of them have got gongs.’Leslie said she regarded the fall of the Berlin Wall and the freeing of Nelson Mandela as the two biggest and most memorable stories she has covered.

Leslie, who began her career at the Daily Express’s Manchester office in 1962, said of her early days: ‘The opening remark of my news editor was: ‘You’re keeping a good man out of a job’. It toughens you up – after my experiences in the provincial office of a national newspaper, the checkpoints and war zones were a doddle.’Ramniklal Solanki, founder of the Asian Media and Marketing Group and publisher of Asian Trader among other titles, was awarded the CBE for his contribution to race relations and publishing. He received the OBE in 1998. Solanki, 75, is still editor-in-chief of the group and oversees its titles in the UK, India and the US.