David Blackburn

And the winner is…

A few intrepid writers from the Right braved the lion’s den of the left-wing Orwell Prize last night, dominated as it was by hordes of hacks from the Guardian, the Observer, and the New Statesman.

One of these brave souls even won an award. ConservativeHome’s Graeme Archer, whose quietly angry and deeply considered blog-posts took the prestigious Orwell Blog Prize. Archer’s original subject matter, written in prose as robust as granite, rebuffed strong opposition from the growing cacophony from the left-wing blogosphere. Indeed, his victory defies the popular belief that the day of independent right-wing blogging has passed.

Jenni Russell won the journalist of the year award for her work on the Sunday Times and the Guardian. Our own Martin Bright presented the bauble and observed that journalism was now the preserve of an ageing clique: the young cannot break into journalism unless they have significant financial backing.

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