Patrick Hosking of The Times, who consistently tackles complex subjects with wit and clarity, was named Journalist of the Year in the 2021 Wincott Awards for financial, economic and business journalism. Judges said Patrick’s columns always left the reader better informed and were reminiscent of Harold Wincott himself.
The judges also awarded a Journalism of the Year prize to a team of Bloomberg reporters for their investigation of MSCI, the global market index, and its much-hyped ESG (environmental, social and governance) index.
The judges said it was a remarkable expose, revealing the threadbare methodology of the ESG index and raising many uncomfortable questions about the ESG movement. The package of stories was produced by Akshat Rathi, Cam Simpson, Zachary Mider, Rachel Adams-Heard and Hayley Warren.
Lionel Barber, chairman of the Wincott judging panel, said: “I am immensely encouraged by the quality of entries this year. With stagflation looming and consumers facing a cost of living crisis, the need for high grade business and financial journalism in the UK has rarely been greater.”
The awards were presented on Thursday May 26 2022 at a lunch at Mansion House in the City of London, in the presence of The Lord Mayor Locum Tenens, Alderman Sir Alan Yarrow. The guest speaker was Sir David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority.
In a strong field of entries for Video Journalism of the Year, including documentaries and news programmes, judges said all shortlisted submissions offered impact and originality. Despite riveting stories from ITV, BBC and the Economist, judges felt the Financial Times was the deserved winner.
It delivered a crisply impressive in-depth report on SoftBank, the Japanese global investment giant headed by Masayoshi Son who has turned the venture capital industry upside down with his huge appetite for risk via the ground-breaking SoftBank Vision Fund. The team behind the video was Veronica Kan-Dapaah, Daniel Garrahan, Leo Lewis, Arash Massoudi and Kana Inagaki.
In the audio category, Tortoise took the top prize. Judges said it had produced riveting reporting on Pfizer’s highly successful development of an anti-Covid vaccine. With its provocative title “Pfizer’s War”, Ceri Thomas examined the balance between profits and profiteering in the race to mass market its new vaccine. Judges said Ben Chu’s Funny Money (BBC Radio 4 Analysis) ran it close with a punchy, highly listenable investigation into digital currencies.
Wincott’s Data Journalism of the Year award was again tightly contested with a very high quality group of entries. Judges said the Financial Times’ Data Team deserved a special mention for producing the single most impressive piece of data visualisation with its story on Europe’s gas crisis and the surge in prices. But judges decided the winner was the BBC Shared Data Unit for its overall offering and its use of data to create more accessible coverage of a big topic – how Covid left councils with a £3bn financial black hole. The BBC team was Paul Lynch, Alex Homer and Sam Ferguson.
Young Journalist of the Year produced yet again a high quality shortlist, underlining the rich promise among the next generation of top journalists. Subjects ranged from crypto currency, the competitiveness of the City of London, levelling up, and being a Tik Toker. The standard of writing was high, and there was good use of data and graphics.
It was a tricky field to judge. But in the end judges decided Imogen Tew of The Times and Sunday Times was the winner. Her eye for a story with broader public relevance, and her original angles combined with humour carried the day.
Mary McDougall of the Investors Chronicle was named Personal Finance Journalist of the Year. She combined a clarity in her writing with practical advice for the average investor and saver. The judges highly commended Nicholas Megaw of the Financial Times for well written, interesting reads on the growth of fintech and the threat posed by loan sharks.
In the Nations and Regions category, Clodgah Rice of BBC Northern Ireland took the top prize with her report on how the cost of living crisis hit the people of Northern Ireland six months earlier than the rest of the UK. Judges said Clodagh showed tenacity and a good grasp of business and economic issues. The judges were looking for original reporting a mastery of the regional beat, and Clodagh’s multimedia entry was a deserving winner.
This year’s Guest Speaker was Sir David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority. He spoke about the organisation’s significant role during the pandemic and the importance of journalists using statistics accurately in their reporting.
You can listen to a recording of Sir David’s speech and the announcement of the winners using the audio player below.
1 comment
Well done Akshat Rathi and the Bloomberg team for their terrific investigative work. Their investigation into ESG and its disturbing weaknesses will have lasting implications for corporate investors.
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