The British Journalism Awards have selected 2017’s ‘best’ journalism, and it’s no surprise what they went for [OPINION]
The British Journalism Awards 2017 were announced on 11 December. The coveted ‘Journalist of the Year’ award was presented to LBC radio’s Nick Ferrari. And judges were reportedly “impressed” by his infamous pre-election interview with Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.
‘Calm and methodical’
Ferrari presents the breakfast show on LBC every morning between 7am and 10am. And his show attracts an audience of around 1.1 million listeners a week. Press Gazette, which organises the awards, reports that:
The judges were impressed with the calm and methodical way he interviews politicians, most notably shadow home secretary Diane Abbott ahead of this year’s general election.
During the interview broadcast on 2 May, Ferrari asked Abbott about police numbers. The Shadow Home Secretary bungled her response and confused her figures. Her poor performance was seized upon by the newspapers and reported widely the following week. But similar pre-election gaffes from Conservatives like Philip Hammond were largely ignored.
Political leanings
Like the 2016 winner, Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC, or 2015’s Jonathan Calvert (The Sunday Times), questions are raised about Ferrari’s political leanings. During his career he has previously worked for The Sun, Sky News and Fox in the US. He is presently a columnist in The Express. While on air, his reputation for tough interviewing seems selective.
When Conservative Environment Secretary Michael Gove stumbled over his answers, Ferrari defended him. When Theresa May guested on his show, he gave her an easy ride. Afterwards, he described the PM as “charming”, “determined” and “focused”. This was as she fought an election campaign derided from all sides as inept and incompetent. May even earned the nickname ‘Maybot‘, as commentators found her so repetitive and robotic.
But not Ferrari.
Read on...
Awards or rewards?
The judges also awarded ‘Documentary of the Year’ to Channel 4‘s Dispatches. Their programme, ‘The Battle for the Labour Party’, presented Jeremy Corbyn’s party as being hijacked by the so-called ‘hard left’. Meanwhile, in the last five years, no journalist from a left-wing outlet has won the ‘Journalist of the Year’ award.
If such baubles are only presented to those who push the establishment line, like Kuenssberg, or show open right-wing bias, like Ferrari, the condition of British journalism must be pondered.
Get Involved!
– Join us so we can continue to bring you the news that matters.
Featured image via The Press Gazette
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
