Mark Henderson of The Times scooped first prize at the industry’s leading awards for medical journalism.
Mark Henderson of The Times scooped first prize at the industry’s leading awards for medical journalism.
Mark was the winner of the General Medical Consumer News category at the prestigious Norwich Union Healthcare Medical Journalism Awards 2005 for his piece on Designer Babies. The awards celebrate the very best of journalism in the healthcare arena and the critical role that journalists play in educating and informing audiences.
The winners, who came from a wide range of media, were announced at the Medical Journalism awards ceremony held in London last night (Monday 21 November 2005).
Celia Hall, chairperson of the judges and health editor of The Daily Telegraph, said of Mark Henderson’s entry: “Mark has written a strong, predictive story that proved to be correct and turned out to be the first in a series of controversial decisions in the field of human embryology. This was a fine example of an exclusive news story.”
The awards are now in their fourteenth year of sponsorship by Norwich Union Healthcare, and are administered in conjunction with the Medical Journalists’ Association.
Graham Boffey, managing director of Norwich Union Healthcare, said: “I have enjoyed reading through the entries and yet again the standard of journalism has been both impressive and educational. The world of health and medicine continues to evolve at a more hectic pace – the challenge to report clearly and effectively on increasingly complex issues is tougher than ever.
It gives me huge pleasure that Norwich Union Healthcare continue to sponsor this important event in conjunction with the Medical Journalists’ Association. The peer recognition it brings is just reward for the efforts of journalists constantly striving to educate their readership and unearth the real stories behind the headlines.”
Norwich Union Healthcare Medical Journalism Awards winners for 2005:
General Medical
Consumer News
Ł1,000 first prize – Mark Henderson, The Times, "Cancer free 'designer babies' get approval".
Special commendation – Jeremy Laurance, The Independent, "The new superbug threatening Britain’s hospitals".
Consumer Feature
Ł1,000 first prize – Margaret McCartney, Financial Times, "Why screening can be bad for your health".
Trade News
Ł1,000 first prize – Daniel Martin, Health Service Journal, "Number of ambulances could be halved by 2011".
Special commendation – Emma Baines, GP Newspaper, "GP flu targets hit by vaccine shortages" GP Newspaper.
Trade Feature
Ł1,000 first prize – Nerys Hairon, Pulse Magazine, "My nine weeks of hell after being arrested for murder".
Best Newcomer
Ł750 prize – Lyndsay Moss, Press Association, "Fertility tourism warning as donor anonymity ends".
Financing Healthcare
Consumer News
Ł1,000 first prize – Mark Nicholls, Eastern Daily Press, "Ł30m Norfolk NHS crisis".
Special commendation – Moira O’Neill, Money Observer, "Steps for a healthy retirement".
Trade News
Ł1,000 first prize – Peter Madigan, Cover Magazine, "A fairer sex – Transexual people seeking life insurance".
Special commendation – David Sawers, Health Insurance, "A question of capacity".
Best Newcomer - Trade
Ł750 prize – Holly Williams, Money Management, "Are you being served? Private Medical Insurance".
Special commendation – Mike Foster, BMA News, "Spanner in the works".
Best Newcomer – Consumer
Ł750 prize – Emma Brady, The Birmingham Post, "Internet plea to pay for kidney operation".
Broadcast - TV
National
Ł1,000 first prize – Fergus Walsh, BBC News, "Polio in Nigeria".
Special commendation – Liz Bloor, BBC Panorama, "Undercover nurse".
Regional
Ł1,000 first prize – Dorothy Parker, BBC Scotland, "The real cost of care".
Special commendation, Peter Cullimore, ITV Wales, "Game boy".
Broadcast Radio
National
Ł1,000 first prize – Matthew Hill, BBC Radio 4, "Out of hours GPs".
Special commendation – John Waite, BBC Radio 4, "Face the facts".
Regional
Ł1,000 first prize, Richard Wilson, BBC Radio Scotland, "The Jack ‘n’ Jill, 50 years of the Pill".
-ends-
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Notes to Editors:
- Norwich Union is the UK’s largest insurer. It is the UK’s largest provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the leading Financial Adviser (FA) providers. FAs provide around 75% of the company’s long-term savings business.
- Norwich Union has strategic alliances with building societies and other leading UK brand names including Tesco Personal Finance and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.
About Norwich Union Healthcare
- Norwich Union Healthcare was founded in 1990 as the healthcare arm of Norwich Union and now provides a range of income protection and private medical insurance products that cover over 870,000 lives. It is one of the largest providers of income protection and private medical insurance in the UK.
- Member of the Association of British Insurers and the Financial Ombudsman Service.
About The Medical Journalists' Association
- The MJA is an independent professional association for anyone who writes, edits or produces material on health or medicine in the media. The current membership includes medical and healthcare journalists, as well as doctors, nurses and therapists, contributing to national and provincial newspapers, specialist, business and consumer magazines, radio and television, the web and books. www.mja-uk.org.