On Tuesday, I presented the Orwell Prize for journalism to brave Jenni Russell, who used
the occasion to go public on her battle against cancer. She had not been well enough to apply for the award herself, but her son had selected her best articles and she was a worthy winner.
Here’s the official tribute to her work: “Jenni Russell was the stand-out journalist in an outstanding field. Her empathy for the world beyond Westminster gives her writing an extra dimension often lacking in political insiders. There is an overriding humanity to her work, whether she is covering the death-throes of the last Labour government or the birth-pangs of the Coalition.”
This really was an extraordinary shortlist and I recommend readers to go on to the Orwell Prize website and click on the links to the articles by Philip Collins, Amelia Gentleman, Catherine Mayer, Gideon Rachman, Rachel Shabi and Declan Walsh.
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