The Society of Editors has awarded three Fellowships to honour senior journalists in their work.

The awards are handed out in recognition of a significant extra contribution in the fight to maintain freedom of the media, freedom of expression and the public’s right to know.

Retiring president Paul Horrocks, (second from left), presented Fellowships to Phil Harding, who retired this summer after many years with the BBC, and Walter Greenwood (left) and Tom Welsh (right), joint authors of the Essential Law for Journalists book.

They were recognised at the annual conference dinner, where the speakers were Paddy Harverson, communications secretary to Prince Charles, and champion boxer Ricky Hatton, a sporting hero from Manchester, where the conference was held.

The principal guest speaker told a room packed with regional and national journalists: “No one, no matter what they have done to seek fame and public favour via the media, no matter how exalted their position in society, deserves to have their lives blighted by an aggressive invasion of their privacy in the name of journalism.”

In contrast, Ricky spoke about his preparations for the forthcoming title fight with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on December 7, and how he manages to keep his feet firmly on the ground despite the huge amount of publicity sports stars now attract. Do you have a story about the regional press?
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