A memorial award presented for campaigning or investigative journalism has been discontinued.
The Paul Foot Award has been presented every year since 2005, and was won by Doncaster Free Press journalist Deborah Wain in 2007.
The award was set up by Private Eye and The Guardian in memory of investigative journalist Paul Foot, pictured above left, to run for an initial period of 10 years.
Organisers have now confirmed that the award, worth £5,000 to the winners with £1,000 for the five runners-up, will not be continuing.
Private Eye finance director Geoff Elwell said: “It was set up to run for ten years by Private Eye and The Guardian in memory of the campaigning journalist Paul Foot and has celebrated the best investigative and campaigning journalism in the UK in that period.
“It was a wonderful, inspiring way to honour Paul’s memory.”
Geoff declined to give any further details of why the decision has been taken to discontinue the award.
Deborah won the 2007 award for an exposé of corruption in the Doncaster Education City project. Other recent nominees from the regional press have included Jon Austin, of The Echo, Basildon, who made the shortlist in 2011, and the Lancashire Evening Post’s Aasma Day, in 2013.
Writing on his Facebook page, Jon said he was told by a spokeswoman for the organisers: “After ten years it has been decided to make the 2014 Awards the final such event.”
Jon added: “It was one of few awards which pitted the regional and national press against each other.”
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Really sad to hear about this. Paul Foot was an inspiration to more than one generation of journalists – for the sheer number of investigations, for the topics he covered which no-one else wanted to bother with and his consistent championing of the underdog.
Those are characteristics that need upholding in local (and national) journalism now more than ever, so it’s regrettable, to say the least, that this decision has been taken.
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Shome mishtake, shurely? Ed
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I think the clue may lie in the fact the quote is from the finance director…
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As so many of us support its aims, why don’t we continue to promote The Paul Foot Award as an incentive to investigative journalism? If Trinity Mirror/Local World/Newsquest and all other advocates of how restructured staffing levels are improving editorial standards will take over the reins from Private Eye, The Gosport Globe is willing to chip in on a pro rata basis.
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