Bureau reporter named best new journalist of the year at British Journalism awards

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s Tom Warren won the best new journalist of the year award at a top industry event last night.

The Press Gazette’s British Journalism Awards are highly prized by the media as they recognise the best public interest journalism across all forms of publication.

Warren was named best new journalist of the year for three pieces of work: a map highlighting the proliferation of payday loan lenders in deprived areas of Britain; his part in the Bureau’s investigation into party political funding; and his unmasking of key shareholders in the Royal Mail float.

Judges said of his entry: “Tom made great use of data and technology to unearth stories and details. He picked targets that no-one else was looking at to bring new information to light on matters of real public interest.

“He used excellent detective work to reveal the privileged bidders who profiteered from the Royal Mail flotation, forcing the Government to release the full list.”

The Bureau was also shortlisted for its investigation into Tory party fundraising, which revealed the lobbyists and powerful business people and financiers who mingled with key ministers at lavish Conservative party events.

The Times’ Andrew Norfolk was named journalist of the year for his long-running investigation into child abuse. Judges said he “stood out as a magnificent example of what can be achieved by an ordinary reporter.”

The night was dominated by the Times and the Sunday Times’ Fifa investigation. Together the papers won seven of the 14 awards.

Dominic Ponsford, editor of the Press Gazette said there had been a record number of entries in this year’s awards and said the high quality of the entries made a “compelling case for the positive role journalism plays” in our society.