The Lancet, Radio 4’s Barbara Myers, The Independent’s Jeremy Laurance, and Pharmaceutical Journal’s Clare Bellingham have all been voted to the top by fellow journalists in the Medical Journalists’ Association Awards.
The Lancet was voted medical publication of the year with MJA members judging it to have the most consistent record of excellence in communicating effectively with its audience.
Laurance was named health journalist of the year. He said of his work: “The stories that give me the most satisfaction are the scoops of interpretation – even if they only make six pars on an inside page, which may explain why I’m still scribbling for a living, rather than advancing up the editorial ladder. It is an incremental process trying to cast the issues of the day in a clear, unbiased light.” Other journalists commended in this category were the Daily Mail’s Jenny Hope and Sarah Boseley at The Guardian.
Myers, who presents Check Up, a live medical phone-in on BBC Radio 4, was voted freelance journalist of the year.
She said: “I am delighted to have my work recognised by fellow medical journalists. I really appreciate their support.” Myers has won many awards in the course of her career, including two Sony Gold awards and a previous MJA award. She won the first MJA award in 1979 for articles written about dietary fibre. Other freelance journalists commended at the awards were Fred Kavalier, Jenny Sims and Dr Mike Smith.
A pharmacy journalist of five years, Bellingham was named medical journalist of the year. She said: “This was a real shock as I didn’t even know I had been nominated until the evening of the awards.”
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