Winners of the Workworld media awards announced

At a ceremony held at Bafta last night, the winners of the 2006 Workworld media awards were announced by Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation.

Sponsored by AMEC, the awards are now in their 20th year and attracted an unprecedented number of entries. The speaker at the event was Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, and the AMEC lifetime achievement award was presented to the former editor of The Economist, Bill Emmott.

The winners, with judgesí comments, are:
Regional Newspaper journalist award - Ian McConnell, The Herald
A true all-rounder - at home equally in news, features and comment - Ian McConnell knows his patch, is widely respected, and gets good access and excellent stories because of it.

Radio Programme Award - ëLife After Roverí, BBC Radio 4
This programme will stand the test of time of time as a work of lasting significance. A three-parter examining what happened to the workers made redundant from Rover, it was at once moving, hopeful and utterly fascinating. It was also beautifully presented by Adrian Chiles.

Online Award - Hazards
The Online category today attracts some very impressive entries. Health and safety is not an easy area to cover, yet Hazards.org is so good that it not only renders the material detailed and probing, but also lively and gutsy as well. Anyone who hasnít seen it should go and have a look.

The ëOne to watchí Award - Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Dow Jones Newswires
What clinched this category was a magnificent report into Mittal Steel and the companyís safety record in central and eastern Europe. The piece was well-sourced, probing, and a great example of thorough, thoughtful journalism. The winner has a real eye for a story and a gift for putting it together properly.

Commended - Rachel Horne, Working Lunch, BBC2

Regional broadcast - ëWales@Work BBC Radio Wales
A wide-ranging magazine programme, which looks at work, business and industry, Wales@Work exemplifies all that is best about the BBC - intelligent, balanced, informative, public service-oriented and with high production values. It picks surprising subjects, researches them thoroughly and brings them to life through well-cast discussions. We await with anticipation a national equivalent.

Columnist of the Year - Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph
Liam Halligan is a forceful argument specialist, a writer of red-meat eating, fire-breathing columns. His writing is pacey and uncompromising - and he doesnít let up until he has changed your mind.

Commended: Simon Caulkin, The Observer

Magazine Journalist - Aimee Turner, Flight International
Aimee Turner breathes life and relevance into her subject. She writes elegantly and accessibly on matters of great significance in the aviation industry, and without question told the judges more things they didnít know than anyone else. It was a pleasure to read her pieces.

Scoop of the year - Inside Out, BBC Newcastle
The winner of this category was a fantastic investigation into the antics of parking attendants in Sunderland. Its findings made oneís jaw drop and oneís blood boil. Using hidden cameras, it alleged racism, vindictiveness and corruption among parking attendants and led to the loss of a contract and staff dismissals after it was screened. A local story with national significance, and a nicely produced and presented piece of work.

Magazine Feature of the Year - Alison Wolf, Working Girls, Prospect
This award went not to a professional journalist, but to an academic. Her piece in Prospect about the diverse nature of womenís work and lives, and the decline of the service ethic, was a brilliant piece of writing - provocative, unorthodox and perceptive, but well-argued as well.

Commended - Andy Saunders, ëFixing the Tubeí, Management Today

Broadcast news journalism Award - Faisal Islam, Channel 4 News
Faisal Islamís reports put genuinely new information on air and do so with real panache. They have depth and authority, and in the case of his report on the rise of Gazprom, gave rise to geopolitical insights that had not been properly considered before. Truly excellent reporting.

Print journalist of the year - Philip Thornton
Philip Thornton has a knack for telling big stories crisply - someone who puts the needs of his readers first. His writing is stylish and thoughtful. He has recently embarked on a freelance career after a stint as economics correspondent for The Independent, and the judges wished him success.

Television Programme of the Year - ëPublic Service/Private Profití, Steve Boulton Productions, for Dispatches, Channel 4

The winner of this category was an hour-long documentary that exposed the bizarre and wasteful economics behind the Private Finance Initiative. Merely getting it on air was a huge achievement. But this was also passionate, polemical, and commanding investigative journalism. It had structure, pace and leaves the viewer well-informed, but angry too.

AMEC Lifetime achievement Award - Bill Emmott
Bill Emmott will be remembered as one of the great editorís in all the Economistís distinguished 163-year history. Not only has he taken circulation past the magic million mark, but he has successfully made The Economist the key source for insight and sparkling writing on business, management, and globalisation. Bill is currently writing a book about the relationship between China and Japan. The judges wished him every success and thanked him for all he has done.

Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation said: ëIt is amazing to think the Workworlds have now been running for 20 years. This year, though, we not only had an unprecedented number of entries, but, in my opinion, the standard keeps on getting better. Thank you to all who entered and who have made the awards such a success.í