The Paul Foot Award for campaigning and investigative journalism appears to have been axed ten years after it was launched.
UPDATE: Ian Hislop told Press Gazette that the award will be returning in some form. He said: "We are going to replace it, but we are not going to do it in the same format. Alan [Rusbridger] and I agreed that it had become a bit top end, and we are trying to do something for the other end of journalism." An announcement is expected early in the New Year.
The annual prize was launched by The Guardian and Private Eye and gave out an award of £5,000 to the winner, plus £1,000 each to five runners up.
Last year the prize was shared between The Sunday Times and Private Eye (winners pictured above with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop). Press Gazette was a finalist last year for its Save Our Sources campaign and investigation.
Former award nominee Jon Austin broke the news on his Facebook page.
A spokesperson for Private Eye told him: "Set up over ten years ago by Private Eye and The Guardian in memory of the campaigning journalist Paul Foot, the Paul Foot Award has celebrated the best investigative and campaigning journalism in the UK today and was a wonderful, inspiring way to honour Paul’s memory.
"However after ten years it has been decided to make the 2014 Awards the final such event."
All the Paul Foot Award winners and finalists can be found here.
No mention was made that the award for 2014 would be the last at the reception in February hosted by Hislop.
But Private Eye managing director Sheila Molnar said it was always intended to end the award after ten years.
The award was set up in memory of campaigning journalist Paul Foot who died aged 66 in 2004.
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