Association of British Science Writers – Winners Announced for 2013 Journalism Awards

At an Awards Ceremony held last night (Thu 20^th June) in London, the winners of this years’ ABSW Science Writers’ Awards for Britain and Ireland supported by Janssen Research and Development were announced.

Addressing the guests and those on the shortlists Connie St Louis, President of the ABSW and Programme Director, MA Science Journalism, City University, London announced future developments for the Awards: 'I am delighted to be able to announce that our five year agreement with Janssen Research and Development has been extended for a further year, leaving the Awards secure until at least 2015.  In the next round of Awards there will be three new Awards.   Thanks to the support of the Institute of Physics and IOP Publishing Ltd. we will be introducing the IOP Student Science Publication Award. The Award will recognise and reward student editorial teams who produce a regular popular science publication ie: newspaper or magazine, either in print or online.   There are now many such publications being produced by students in Britain and Ireland and it is really important that the ABSW recognises and supports these initiatives as they provide a great training ground for the science journalists of tomorrow.  I am also delighted to announce the introduction of a student blog award, which has been made possible through the support of Simon Singh and Good Thinking Foundation.   Recognition of student bloggers is another really important way the ABSW can encourage the next generation of science writers.   The ABSW will match the student award by introducing a science blog award for more established bloggers that will recognise the key role that science blogs now play in bringing science writing to a wide audience. These awards will build upon the first ever UK Science Blog Prizes made in 2012 by Good Thinking Foundation.'

Commenting on the judging process for 2013, Connie St Louis said: ‘This year there was an extremely strong field of entries in most categories, most notably in features.  This was hard work for the panel of judges, but a clear indication that British and Irish science writers continue to produce outstanding work.’  

However, there were exceptions, within the news category there was a disappointingly low number of entries and the judges felt that many of those entering had not entered their best work from 2012.   The judges felt the work entered did not truly reflect the excellence in science news journalism in the UK and decided that they would make a ‘judges award for news’ in 2013.  The judges therefore nominated the work they felt was outstanding from 2012 and these nominations were considered alongside those entered. 

Commenting on this decision Connie St Louis said: ‘I will be talking to science news journalists to see how best to move forward with this category to make it easier for journalists to enter their very best work, so that our news award truly reflects the work of the UK’s talented and experienced science news journalists’.  

The investigative journalism category received a disappointingly low number of entries and as was the case in 2012 the judges decided one entry stood head and shoulders above the rest, with the other entries not meeting their basic criteria for an investigation.  There was therefore no shortlist for this category, just one winner (see below).  Explaining this decision Connie St Louis said. ‘We are well on the way to developing an ABSW investigative science journalism fellowship to support investigative journalism in science and hope to make this open to candidates in the very near future.’  

ABSW Science Writers’ Awards for Britain and Ireland 2013 Winners/Runners up

Judges award for news

Joint winners

Geoff Brumfiel. Fukushima’s doses tallied. Nature. 23/5/12

and

Ian Sample. Higgs boson: it's unofficial! Cern scientists discover missing particle. Guardian. 4/7/12

Runners up

Declan Butler.Flu surveillance lacking. Nature. 28/3/12

Nick Collins.Carpark skeleton will be confirmed as Richard III. Telegraph. 15/12/12

Best feature

Winner

Kerri Smith. The Ground Breaker. Nature. 6/9/12

Runners up

Catherine de Lange. My Two Minds. New Scientist. 5/5/12

Leigh Phillips. Armed Resistance. Nature. 30/8/12

Best scripted/edited television programme or online video

Winner

Panorama: The Mind Reader, unlocking my voice. BBC 1. 13/11/12

Team entry:Eleanor Plowden (assistant producer), Alison Priestley (producer), Frank Simmonds (deputy editor, Panorama), Fergus Walsh (reporter)

Runners up

The Enemy Within: 50 years of fighting cancer. Available on Vimeo. 4/12/12

Team entry: Vivienne Parry (writer and presenter), Richard Critchlow (Dependable Productions, producer), Kat Arney (research)

Voyager: To the Final Frontier. A BBC Scotland production for BBC 4. 24/10/13

Team entry: Mark Hedgecoe (executive producer), Yvonne Innes (production co-ordinator), Chris Riley (producer/director), Gary Scott (editor)

The Royal Society Radio Prize - A prize for the best scripted/edited radio programme or podcast

Winner

Digital Human. A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4. 30/4/12

Team entry:Kate Bissell (producer), Dr Aleks Krotoski (presenter), Victoria McArthur (producer), Peter McManus (producer)

Runners up

Dear Professor Hawking. A Sweet Talk Productions Programme for BBC Radio 4. 2/1/12

Team entry: Julian Mayers (producer), Peter Nichols (director), Nick Romero (sound designer)

Transit of Venus: Frontiers. BBC Radio 4. 30/5/12

Individual entry: Marek Kukula

Best investigative journalism

Winner

Anil Ananthaswamy. Do No Harm. www.readmatter.com. 14/11/12

NB:  Due to the standard of entries in 2013 the judges decided not to produce a shortlist but just to award a winner there are therefore no runners up

Richard Gregory award for best newcomer

Winner

Adam Smith

Runners up

Will Douglas Heaven

Penny Sarchet

The NUJ Stephen White award for best communication of science in a non science context

Winner

Frank Close. Sun Block. Prospect Magazine.13/12/12

Runners Up

GM’s New Generation: A Countryfile Investigation. BBC 1 TV.  15/7/13

Team entry: Dom Carveley (director), Matthew Gull (producer), Tom Heap (presenter), Helen Shields (researcher)

Michelle Martin. Earworms. BBC Radio 4. 22/10/12

Lifetime Achievement in Science Journalism

Winner

Dick Ahlstrom, Science Editor, The Irish Times (Ahlstrom could not be at the Awards and spoke through a pre recorded video)

The ABSW Science Writers’ Awards for Britain and Ireland 2013 attracted nearly 120 entries.  An independent panel of science journalists chaired by the President of the ABSW Connie St Louis, judged the entries based on originality, appeal to a broad audience, novelty of subject matter, likely impact, style, content, entertainment, balance and depth of reporting. The awards are sponsored by Janssen Research and Development. 

Award winners received a certificate and a small cash prize and enter the ABSW hall of fame that includes previous Award winners Sir David Attenborough, Sir John Maddox (Nature), and Judith Hann (BBC Tomorrow’s World).

Full details of the rules and regulations for the awards and a full list of judges can be found at http://www.absw.org.uk/jobs-awards/awards

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