Simpson: nomination
The BBC dominates the shortlists for this year’s Royal Television Society Awards, with 19 nominations in 11 categories. Broadcasting rival ITV has seven nominations, with Channel 4 and Sky achieving six and three respectively.
The war in Iraq dominated the news event category with BBC One, Sky News and Channel 4 News chosen for their coverage.
John Simpson’s report on friendly fire in Iraq, which killed his interpreter, Kamaran Abdurrazaq Mohammed, and 15 other people, has been selected in the international news category alongside ITV News programme Welcome to Baghdad and James Brabazon’s report on Liberia for Newsnight.
Channel 4 News’s Lindsey Hilsum, who reported from Baghdad, has been shortlisted for television journalist of the year alongside ITV’s John Irvine and James Mates.
BBC One’s Rageh Omaar, who attained cult status while in Iraq, is up for specialist journalist of the year with the BBC’s Hilary Andersson and Sky News’s Tim Marshall.
There are no shortlists for news channel and programme of the year, which will be announced on the night. The ceremony takes place on 24 February at the London Hilton, Park Lane, and will be hosted by Dermot Murnaghan.
By Sarah Boden
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