The Orwell Prize 2015: prizegiving ceremony

Attribution: by BBC [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

If you have followed enough this blog, you may have discovered the particular attachment to the Orwell Prize.

After the Launch Debate - hosted by the Frontline Club on the 23rd of October - and the recent shortlist debate and announcement  - which took place on the 21^st of April at the University of Westminster, Regent Street’s campus – we arrive at the Annual Prizegiving Ceremony. 

If you have missed it also this time, here we are to update you on what happened.

And if you think it would be a waste of your precious time to carry on reading this post because “I am not interested in politics, neither in journalism and writing,” I would strongly suggest you to research a bit more (most probably, by reading and follow ing the links below).

The corrupted speeches, that we can often listen to in politics and that confuse instead of clear the citizens' mind, were the targets of George Orwell’s work.

Research, accuracy, and respect for the truth are the values to always keep in mind for a journalist. Especially in a time of extreme relativism and of great amount of information from everywhere and from everyone through the web.

“What we should aspire to be – said James Meek on the 21^st May’s event - is not the bird with the big heavy right wing, and not the bird with the big heavy left wing. But the bird with the annoying, persistent, sharp beak.”

Journalists not biased, but totally dedicated to discover and report the good and the bad of the current affairs and ordinary stories: these the writers who look at George Orwell as an exemplar.

To remind the importance of the continuous digging for the many untold stories in the country, the Orwell Prize with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation launched the Unreported Britain project. The award for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils and The Guardian’s series of articles are part of it.

The Annual Prizegiving Ceremony

The winners

The Prizegiving Ceremony took place on the 21st of May at the Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster – Regent Campus.

Exposing Britain’s Social Evils:

Alison Holt, for her work on Care of the elderly and the vulnerable (BBC)

Journalism Prize:

Martin Chulov, from The Guardian

Book Prize:

James Meek, with Private Island

Among the judges, Gillian Slovo, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Nick Timmins, and Julia Unwin - Chief Executive of Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust -  announced the winners for the respective categories.

Professor Jean Seaton, the Director of the Orwell Prize, presented the event.

What is coming next? Another event will be held in Oxford. The Orwell Youth Prize promotes the political writing among young people. The Celebration Day will take place on the 22^nd of June.

Video

If you have missed also the Annual Prizegiving Ceremony, you can catch up with what happened at the Prizegiving Ceremony. Watch the video below and have a look at the photos.
For more videos by the Orwell Prize, you can also go to the Youtube Channel dedicated.