Sunday Independent writers Marie Crowe and Mark Tighe have jointly won Journalist of the Year at the awards run in association with Newsbrands Ireland. Entry to the competition was open to any work published in print, online, video, or audio from national newspapers or digital news members of The Press Council of Ireland with a focus on national and international news. The special guest was An Tanáiste and Fianna Fáil leader Michéal Martin.
In a speech, An Tánaiste said: “Public interest fact based journalism has never been more important in a world that is in an increasingly perilous condition. Democracies are facing unprecedented challenges, with misinformation being weaponised to divide people and destabilise societies. If we believe we have a positive role in professional journalism then we have to support this work in a more comprehensive, positive, and forward looking way. ”
Sponsor
Google News Initiative was the awards gold sponsor. Business Plus sponsored the business journalist of the year, which went to Killian Woods of the Business Post. Amazon sponsors news reporter and Owens DDB and Paddy Power joined as awards patrons. The Irish Times Ticket was voted magazine of the year. This year, 23 category awards were presented and the judging panel was chaired by former Herald editor Claire Grady.
The winning work can be read on http://www.irishjournalismawards.ie
