View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Comment
December 7, 2015updated 09 Dec 2015 10:27pm

Liverpool journalist who started on The People at 19 given lifetime achievement award 60 years later

A journalist celebrating his sixtieth year in the business has been give a Lifetime Achievement Award by Liverpool Press Club.

Ken Bennett, 79, was praised by the club for his “tireless dedication to journalism”.

Club secretary, Chris Johnson (pictured above, left), told a reception on Monday night that Bennett's "articulate style and dogged determination” allowed him to become the youngest ever reporter to join a national Sunday newspaper, The People, at the age of 19.

He worked his way across national papers such as the Sunday Mirror and the Daily Star and later became head of PR for Emap Radio in the late 1980s.

In 1999 he was credited with leading a highly effective crisis management campaign over a potentially prejudicial comment made live on air about  the trial serial killer Harold Shipman.

Before the jury reached its verdict, a DJ on Rock FM complained about the high cost of the trial and said Shipman was "innocent until proved guilty as sin", to which a colleague said "guilty, guilty".

Johnson said Bennett's actions  were so “effective and sure-footed” that the trial judge went on to say in open court the rapid, professional response spared the radio team judicial action.

The award-winning Liverpool-born journalist created the monthly Saddleworth Independent tabloid newspaper in 2010, which has a readership of 12,000 across 13 villages in North West England and is hand delivered to more than 120 outlets.

The ceremony took place in Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel, during the Liverpool Press Club’s Annual President’s Lunch.

Johnson said Bennett was “called to be a journalist” and added: "It has been my privilege to know him for more than forty years and in that time I have witnessed the remarkable dedication and unerring professionalism he brings to his calling.

“Ken richly merits this honour for the outstanding contribution he has made throughout his career, his own record of achievements, the unselfish manner in which he has fostered talent in young journalists and the benefit he has brought to countless millions, whose lives he has touched and enriched through his journalism.

“As a former press club president, he remains a leading member to the present day.”

Topics in this article : , ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network