Welcome to Policy Review TV - to access more content or redeem your conference voucher.

Help
Home
The Comment Awards
13 Oct 2009
Brought to you by Editorial Intelligence, the media analysis and networking business and filmed by awards broadcast partner, Policy Review Interactive.

The Comment Awards are the first to celebrate comment in all its forms - both print and online from the Commentariat across both newspapers and the blogosphere. 2009 winners, announced on 13th October 2009 over a champagne breakfast at RIBA, London.

  • Best Comment Pages sponsored by Edelman

    WINNER:  The Times, edited by Anne Spackman    

  • Commentariat of the Year sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover

    WINNER:  Martin Wolf, Financial Times
    Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. Wolf, who joined the FT in 1987, has won numerous awards for his journalism including the CBE in 2000 ‘for services to financial journalism’.  His most recent book was 'Fixing Global Finance' (2009).

  • Cultural Commentator sponsored by Arts & Business

    WINNER:  Johann Hari, The Independent
    Johann Hari writes for The Independent, The Huffington Post and a wide range of international newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Le Monde. In 2008 he was awarded the Orwell Prize and in 2007 was Amnesty International’s Newspaper Journalist of the Year. 

  • Diary Comment Page sponsored by Atlantic Books

    WINNER:  Londoner's Diary, London Evening Standard
    Londoner’s Diary of the Evening Standard first appeared on 11 April 1916 when Arthur Mann, the Editor, announced that it would consist of “three columns written daily by gentlemen for gentlemen” with its own distinctive slant on politics, personalities and London based stories. Former editors include Sir Max Hastings, Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Magnus Linklater, Peter Cole and Sarah Sands. It is now edited by Sebastian Shakespeare. 

  • Best Environment Comment sponsored by Climate Change Capital

    WINNER:  Camilla Cavendish, The Times
    Camilla Cavendish is a columnist and leader writer for The Times. Cavendish won the 2008 Paul Foot award for campaigning journalism and in 2009 was awarded “Campaigning Journalist of the Year” at the British Press Awards. Previously, Cavendish has been a McKinsey management consultant, an aid worker and a CEO of a not-for-profit company.

  • Financial Commentator sponsored by Nationwide

    WINNER:  Alex Brummer, Daily Mail    
    Alex Brummer writes a column on economics for the New Statesman and is City Editor of the Daily Mail. He is author of ‘The Crunch: How Greed and Incompetence Sparked the Credit Crisis’ (2008), and has previously worked at the Guardian as Foreign Editor, Financial Editor and Assistant Editor. 

  • Magazine Commentator sponsored by Green Thing (Dothegreenthing.com)

    WINNER:  Alex Brummer, New Statesman
    Alex Brummer writes a column on economics for the New Statesman and is City Editor of the Daily Mail. He is author of ‘The Crunch: How Greed and Incompetence Sparked the Credit Crisis’ (2008), and has previously worked at the Guardian as Foreign Editor, Financial Editor and Assistant Editor. 

  • Media Commentator sponsored by BT

    WINNER: Peter Preston, The Guardian & The Observer
    Peter Preston is a columnist for The Guardian and The Observer, writing about a wide range of issues including a weekly column on the media and issues surrounding newspapers. He has written two books and was editor of The Guardian for two decades, from 1975 to 1995.

  • Online Commentator (independent blogger) sponsored by Cision

    WINNER:  Iain Dale, Iain Dale's Diary
    Iain Dale is one of Britain’s leading political commentators, appearing regularly on TV and radio. Iain is best known for his political blog, Iain Dale’s Diary and football blog, West Ham Till I Die. He is a contributing editor and columnist for GQ Magazine, hosts a weekly Friday night talk radio show on PlayRadioUK and is the publisher of the monthly magazine, Total Politics.

  • Online Newspaper Blog sponsored by MessageSpace

    WINNER:  FT Alphaville, Financial Times
    FT Alphaville is a daily news, real-time markets commentary and analysis service for financial market professionals. The FT Alphaville editorial team is headed by Paul Murphy, an award-winning financial journalist who has spent almost two decades commenting on financial sector developments and breaking large takeover news. 

  • Poison Pen: Polemicist of the Year sponsored by Demos

    WINNER:  Richard Littlejohn, Daily Mail
    Richard Littlejohn is a columnist for the Daily Mail and has previously written for The Sun, The Evening Standard and The Spectator. Littlejohn has broadcast extensively on television and radio, is the author of several books and was included in the Press Gazette’s inaugural Newspaper Hall of Fame as one of ‘the most influential journalists of the past 40 years’.

  • Political Commentator sponsored by Weber Shandwick

    WINNER:  Fraser Nelson, The Spectator & News of the World 
    Fraser Nelson is Editor of The Spectator magazine. Previously political editor of The Spectator, Nelson joined the magazine from The Scotsman in 2006. Nelson also writes a column for the News of the World and is on the board of the Centre for Policy Studies. 

  • Chairman's Choice Award chosen by Sir Christopher Meyer

    WINNER:  Matthew Parris, The Times
    Matthew Parris joined The Times as parliamentary sketch writer in 1988, a role he held until 2001.  He had formerly worked for the Foreign Office and been a Conservative MP from 1979-1986.  He has published many books on travel and politics and an autobiography, 'Chance Witness', for which he won the 2004 Orwell Prize.
     

Programme
Awards ceremony: summary