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March 31, 2007updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

The British Press Awards 2007

By Press Gazette

Political Journalist of the Year Patrick Wintour – The Guardian the Year For the political writer with the best insight into British political life in 2006. Judges wanted to see agenda-setting journalism from knowledgeable well-connected writers.

Nominees Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror Matthew Parris, The Times Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer Simon Walters, Mail on Sunday Patrick Wintour, The Guardian The Guardian, 5 September 2006 Tony Blair’s position has been further undermined by the drafting of a private letter from a majority of the 2001 intake of Labour MPs urging him to resign.

The letter has been coordinated by two formerly ardent Blairite MPs, Sion Simon and Chris Bryant. Its contents were being kept secret yesterday. However, its existence suggests the prime minister is by no means free from the political pressure that grew last week for him to stand down before his preferred, though unstated, private date of 2007.

It is understood the letter was organised at the weekend in the wake of Mr Blair’s decision to announce that he would not give to the Labour conference this month a date, or timetable for his departure. It was not clear last night whether the letter had been sent.

Last night, the BBC reported that a second, similar letter from the 2005 intake was being prepared. Others may be being drafted in what could be seen as a pincer movement against the prime minister.

Mr Simon refused to comment yesterday, saying: ‘If such a confidential letter existed, its existence and contents would remain confidential.’ Mr Bryant was not available last night. However, one of the MPs involved in the letter said: ‘If the prime minister has decided that to set a timetable will undermine his authority, and his authority is already undermined, the obvious thing is for him to go now.’

Feature Writer of the Year Michael Tierney – The Herald For feature writers who produced quality writing throughout 2006. Judges looked for a compelling style in reportage, colour writing, analysis and backgrounders.

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Nominees David Cohen, Evening Standard Rachel Cooke, The Observer Jean Rafferty, Freelance Michael Tierney, The Herald Christine Toomey, The Sunday Times The Herald, 21 January 2006 In my father’s case – because the brain was very swollen and, as his consultant later described it, because the head is, essentially, ‘a closed box’ – the tight confines of the skull could be responsible for continuing damage to surrounding brain tissues. He might need the extra space, ‘while things are settling down’.

As a result of his injury, because the left side of the brain is responsible for language and communication, my father has alchemised into something unrecognisable: voiceless, semiparalysed, prematurely aged and lost inside himself; cast adrift on a linguistic ice-floe. The result is a catastrophic draining of language. And of self. His illness is even reflected in his clothing. Today he is wearing jogging trousers and a loose-fitting sweatshirt. Clothes he would never have worn in the past. Comfortable clothes for the infirm.

It’s one thing to survive. Quite another to survive intact. Initially he was unable to speak or swallow properly – but, by the end of March 2002, there was progress. The speech therapist said he was following simple commands.

There was a minor degree of verbal fluency, with little context. We wrote his name on paper and asked him to copy it. He tried. His fingers failed him.

Circles and long lines.

Scoop of the Year Stephen Moyes – Daily Mirror An award for individual journalists or teams breaking the best exclusive. The judges were looking for journalistic enterprise and rewarded a scoop for its importance and the number of repercussions it caused.

Nominees Dan Evans, News of the World, (McCartney Marriage Split)

Insight Team, The Sunday Times, (Revealed: Cash for Honour Scandal)

Mazher Mahmood, News of the World, (Foul Play: Sven’s Dirty Deals)

Stephen Moyes, Daily Mirror, (John Prescott’s Affair)

Jon Ungoed-Thomas & Robert Winnett, The Sunday Times, (Blair Gave Honours for Loans)

Daily Mirror, 26 April 2006 John Prescott last night said he deeply regretted his fling with a secretary – and admitted it had left his wife Pauline distraught.

The 67-year-old Deputy Premier confessed the fling with 43-year-old Tracey Temple, saying: ‘I did have a relationship with her which I regret. ‘It ended some time ago. I have discussed this fully with my wife Pauline who is devastated by the news.

‘I would be grateful if Pauline and I can now get on with our lives together.’

The two-year affair took place during repeated meetings at Mr Prescott’s graceand- favour flat in Whitehall.

But Tracey’s fellow civil servants say there was an obvious spark of attraction between her and Mr Prescott from the moment she was appointed as his Assistant Private Secretary, Diary Manager.

He was soon regularly complimenting the attractive blonde divorcee on her clothes and even sharing saucy jokes with her in front of other Cabinet ministers.

Once he teased her about her bright red leather trousers in front of Minister for Sport Richard Caborn.

Mr Prescott was also spotted springing out in front of her while pulling a funny face to make her laugh.

His other staff began noticing he was making trips into his department – seemingly just to chat with Tracey, who lives with 46-year-old lorry driver Barrie Williams.

The level of flirting between the pair began to rise, much to the surprise of the other civil servants in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The horseplay and suggestive remarks were transformed into a full-blown affair at the office Christmas party in 2002.

Tracey looked stunning in a revealing low-cut black cocktail dress which buttoned up at the back.

As soon as Mr Prescott arrived he jokingly lifted her skirt to see if she was wearing stockings.

The couple danced together almost all night and after many drinks allegedly confessed their sexual attraction.

After the party, some of the staff were invited back to Prescott’s flat.

Tracey was eventually given a lift back to her hotel by a driver at 3.30am.

The next day Mr Prescott hosted drinks in his office for ministers, dignitaries and senior policemen. He and Tracey lay on the office settee cuddling each other.

Their affection shocked staff. One woman colleague said she had seen Tracey nuzzle Mr Prescott’s neck in the lift. She said she thought it was ‘inappropriate’.

Mr Prescott later laughed off the incident as a bit of messing about.

But three days later he was absolutely livid to find that office gossip claimed they were having an affair.

He told people it was ‘none of their business’. And in the week afterwards he would regularly make a joke of who he got into a lift with at work in case he was accused of having an affair with them.

Eleven days after the party Mr Prescott was still at odds with one aide because he was aware they had been discussing his relationship with Tracey and ‘causing him problems’.

By now Tracey and Mr Prescott were regularly getting together at his plush Admiralty House flat.

One of his favourite ploys was to go to the flat then call the office to say he had forgotten something – asking for Tracey to take it around. But even in the office it was becoming obvious that something was going on. At one party Mr Prescott picked up a giggling Tracey and twirled her in the air.

Then, with her legs over his shoulders, he swept her unsteadily across an impromptu dance floor.

Business and Finance Journalist of the Year Liam Halligan – The Sunday Telegraph For journalists working on City, business and personal finance desks. The judges looked for an ability to break news, predict trends, analyse stories and explain issues to a general audience. A compelling style and a clear understanding of their core readership also scored highly.

Nominees Chris Blackhurst, Evening Standard Liam Halligan, The Sunday Telegraph Ashley Seager, The Guardian David Smith, The Sunday Times Elizabeth Rigby, Financial Times The Sunday Telegraph, 12 February 2006 The G7 used to be a group of rich, market-oriented democracies. It is now headed by a middle-income country with a questionable record on democracy and human rights.

How did this happen? Why are the G7’s finance ministers in Moscow this weekend with Russia, the president of an expanded G8? The reason: Western energy security.

Russia is the world’s second largest oil exporter and the biggest supplier of gas – increasingly the more important fuel. A single state-controlled company, Gazprom, controls a third of the world’s known gas reserves.

Faced with such realities – and growing insecurity over Middle Eastern supplies – Western leaders are fretting about Vladimir Putin’s strident tone.

The Russian president agreed to put ‘energy security’ at the centre of Russia’s G8 stint. But, within days of taking the helm, he turned off gas supplies to Ukraine and Moldova, in turn stemming flows to three G8 members too.

Western politicians – and the media – dismissed this as a ‘clumsy start by Moscow’, an ‘innocent diplomatic gaffe’. If only it were true.

Putin knew what he was doing. As energy costs soar and Western fears grow, he wants the world to know that Russia, with its lavish energy supplies, is a resurgent political power.

Show Business Writer of the Year Fiona Cummins – Daily Mirror For specialist show business writers, be they news reporters or columnists – or both.

Exclusive stories scored particularly highly, but the judges were also looking for lively writing, dedication, and an ability to get behind the scenes with the stars.

Nominees Fiona Cummins, Daily Mirror Victoria Newton, The Sun Rav Singh, News of the World Phil Taylor, News of the World Alice Walker, The People Daily Mirror, 17 May 2006 Sir Paul McCartney has asked his wife Heather Mills for a formal trial separation, the Mirror can reveal.

Macca, 63, will tell his family and close friends of his bombshell decision today.

The couple’s four-year marriage has collapsed amid bitter rows. Sir Paul told one friend: ‘We really can’t go on like this. Enough is enough.’

Heather, 38, remained at their home in East Sussex with daughter Beatrice, two, when Macca took a break in France to mull over their future. If the split becomes permanent she could get £200 million of his £800 million fortune.

In recent months the couple’s always stormy four-year marriage has been punctuated by ever more explosive rows.

They were due to have crisis talks at the weekend. But Macca, 63, decided he could not face another emotionally draining bust-up.

He told one friend: ‘We really can’t go on like this. It’s not fair on either of us.

Enough is enough.’

A source disclosed: ‘Paul hasn’t come to this decision lightly, but felt things couldn’t carry on as they were.

‘He and Heather were getting on so badly it became impossible for them to sleep under the same roof.

‘Paul is desperately hoping some time apart will give them the space to work out whether they want the relationship to continue.

‘It’s terribly sad for them. We’re very concerned it’s all over. But nobody has entirely lost hope.’

Sir Paul, who insists the couple can rekindle their love, is expected to tell close family and friends of his bombshell decision today

Columnist of the Year Polly Toynbee – The Guardian For writers with a regular bylined column.

The judges looked for the ability to “nail”

a subject, as well as for agenda-setting journalism, a unique style and an approach that stimulates debate.

Nominees Nick Cohen, The Observer Armando Iannucci, The Observer Boris Johnson, The Daily Telegraph Matthew Parris, The Times Jeff Randall, The Daily Telegraph Janet Street-Porter, The Independent on Sunday Polly Toynbee, The Guardian Janice Turner, The Times The Guardian, 7 November, 2006 The world is a dangerous place. A heating globe threatens drought, war and mass migration. Terrorists may blow up proliferating nuclear power stations. Ministers are preparing for a 1918-style flu pandemic.

So on a scale of threats to Our Way of Life, where would you place CCTV and speed cameras, electronic health records, DNA storage or ID cards that carry the same information as passports? Most people are not in a delirium of alarm about the Big Brother potential of any of these. Mori finds that about 80% of people support the idea of ID cards (though only 39% think the government will introduce them smoothly, which is another matter). As for CCTV, when Mori asks local communities what would make their areas safer, street cameras always come in the top three.

It’s easy to see why: people on an estate I know say CCTV helped transform the only local shopping street, which had been rife with drugs and prostitution.

Most journalists know those greenink letters from psychotics begging you to investigate dark forces who have inserted a chip into their skulls as they slept or put microphones in their walls.

It is no use urging them to listen to their psychiatrists, or telling them this is acommon delusion with a medical cause and sometimes a cure: they just accuse you of joining the great conspiracy. It takes a delusion of some grandeur to imagine that an all-seeing eye really cares what you are up to every minute of the day.

But it’s one that seems to be shared by the vociferous campaigners against “the surveillance society”. ID cards is the issue these fears coalesce around.

Supplement of the Year Guides to… – The Guardian For the best newspaper magazine or colour supplement of 2006. Strong production values, brilliant content and a vision that adds value to the host newspaper are the key criteria for this award.

Nominees Guides to…. The Guardian How to Spend It, Financial Times Stella, The Sunday Telegraph Sunday Review, The Independent on Sunday Weekend Magazine, The Guardian

Photographer of the Year Andrew Stenning – Daily Mirror For both news and features photographers. The judges were looking for versatility, technical skill and a strong sense of mood captured by the submitted photographs.

Nominees Charlie Bibby, Financial Times James Clarke, The Sun Ian Jones, The Daily Telegraph Richard Pohle, The Times Andrew Stenning, Daily Mirror

Reporter of the Year Sheila McNulty – Financial Times the story-breakers of the national press. The judges were looking for exclusives, expertly researched and brilliantly told for the target audience. Tenacity, investigative flair and an ability to handle different subjects carefully all scored highly.

Nominees David Leppard, The Sunday Times Sheila McNulty, Financial Times Stephen Moyes, Daily Mirror Rajeev Syal, The Times Stephen Wright, The Daily Mail Financial Times, 8 June 2006 BP is facing a criminal grand jury investigation into the March oil spill in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in which a corroded transit line leaked up to 270,000 gallons of crude, triggering investigations by federal and state agencies.

If the investigation goes against BP the company will face prosecution which – in the worst case scenario – could result in prison terms, significant fines and tighter restrictions around BP’s operations.

The Financial Times on Wednesday obtained an e-mail from Steve Marshall, president of BP Alaska, telling staff the UK company on April 26 had received a subpoena from a federal grand jury in Alaska. The grand jury, he said, had asked for ‘a variety of documents and data from BP Alaska concerning the transit line and certain other operational areas’. He urged them to treat the matter as confidential.

The investigation is not only highly unusual for a major oil company but embarrassing for BP and could result in legal proceedings against the company and individuals. BP has denied claims it failed to maintain the transit line, saying it had ‘manageable corrosion rates’ in the pipeline.

Mr Marshall said BP was fully committed to co-operating and told staff they might be contacted to assist in helping the company answer the subpoena, also urging them to co-operate.

Front Page of the Year My Affair: By Prezza For the single most memorable front page of 2006. Judges looked for the most impact – either with a brilliant treatment of a scoop or a unique take on a breaking story or feature.

Nominees How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea, The Sun My Affair: by Prezza, Daily Mirror Prescott at Work, Mail on Sunday The Bastards Got Me, The Times 7/7 Anniversary, Daily Mail

Interviewer of the Year Jan Moir – The Daily Telegraph For one-to-one interview specialists. An imaginative choice of interviewees, an ability to extract new revelations from frequently interviewed subjects and a distinctive writing style were all considered.

Nominees Lynn Barber, The Observer Carol Cadwalladr, The Observer Robert Crampton, The Times Jan Moir, The Daily Telegraph Sarah Sands, The Daily Mail The Daily Telegraph, 21 October 2006 Joining us today is Mr John Humphrys, a broadcaster from Wales who dreams of running an organic farm in the future, but has certain important water issues that we will be examining.

Speaking of liquids, Mr Humphrys also had serious alcohol problems at one stage of his career which we will also be discussing, and later we will be hearing his interesting views on death, when our guest insists that when the end comes he wants to be buried in a cardboard coffin with ‘no bloody fuss’, and has even had it written into his will that he does not want a memorial service.

Good morning, Mr Humphrys. Can you tell us why this is?

‘Because I’ve been to far too many damn boring memorial services and I never understood what the point of them was. I certainly don’t want one for myself, I would hate that,’ he says.

Mr Humphrys is a nice man – a good man, most certainly – although many would argue, would they not, that he is above all a man with that Celtic tendency to linger on the dark side of life instead of gambolling in the sunshine with the lambs.

In his world, it does sometime seem that gloom forever looms, closely followed by doom.

Mr Humphrys, let me ask you this. Is it the case that you are, at heart, a miserable person?

‘What a load of rubbish. I am not a miserablist, as some people call me.

I am an incurable optimist.’

4 February 2006 Everyone knows that Jordan is a shrewd operator, a phenomenal businesswoman, a devoted mother who is much admired and practically a living saint in a satin basque. What isn’t so widely understood is that much of her admirable professional acumen stems from her ability not only to see the big picture, but also focus on the fine points: to seize the day, and the small print, too.

Technical details can be boring, but not for the woman that Playboy magazine calls London’s Legendary Bad Girl. So it’s important to understand that Jordan is not being paid for this interview, a detail she keeps returning to again and again, as if she can’t quite believe something so fiscally unfair.

After all, this is the woman who plans to auction her silicone breast implants on eBay this year, and whose kitchen at home in Sussex is heavily sponsored for photo-shoot purposes, right down to the cushions provided by BComfy and the pink doors courtesy of KTW.

‘It’s not like I’m getting paid for this,’ she huffs, her orange forehead wrinkling with resentment as she snubs the mildest inquiry about her nascent singing career, her mooted role as a Bond girl, or even her plans to make a television documentary about her wedding anniversary. ‘It’s not like I’m getting any money for talking to you,’ she points out, as she simmers away in the corner like an angry carrot.

Cartoonist of the Year Peter Brookes – The Times For cartoonists who have been published in a national newspaper. Judges asked whose submitted work had best helped to capture the events of 2006.

Nominees Peter Brookes, The Times Dave Brown, The Independent Michael Heath, The Mail on Sunday Mac, The Daily Mail Matt Pritchett, Daily & Sunday Telegraph Cartoonist of the Year

Specialist Writer of the Year Sheila McNulty – Financial Times For journalists with defined specialisms not covered by any other category, such as science, motoring and education. Judges looked for writers who led their field in 2006, in breaking news, analysing trends and demonstrating an unrivalled knowledge of their subjects.

Nominees Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper Felicity Lawrence, The Guardian Christopher Leake, The Mail on Sunday Sheila McNulty, Financial Times Jo Revill, The Observer Ben Webster, The Times Financial Times, 17 December 2006 It was 2am on August 16 2002 and Don Shugak was making his rounds as a field production operator for British Petroleum in Alaska. He had the radio tuned to public station KBRW and watched for caribou as he drove his pick-up truck across the desolate Arctic tundra of the Prudhoe Bay oilfield. Part of his job was to monitor the restarting of wells shut for maintenance; every so often he would jump out to ‘check the vitals’ on wells spread 25ft to 50ft apart.

After 12 years with BP, the Alaska native knew the routine, checking up to 100 wells, on clusters miles apart, during a 12-hour shift on America’s biggest oilfield. But he was never complacent: ‘There is always that risk factor when you are dealing with pressure and hydrocarbons.’

Getting out of his truck, the midnight sun slanting long shadows across the snowy plain, he approached well A-22, which had just been restarted after maintenance. But as he opened the door to the steel well house to ‘bleed’ off the excess well pressure the well’s casing ruptured, allowing gas up and out.

There it found a spark from the electricity in the shed and exploded.

Young Journalist of the Year Ed Caesar – The Independent For journalists from any discipline who were still 26 or under on 31 December 2006 and who hadn’t previously been shortlisted for this award. Judges looked for the journalist who made the most impact during 2006. The winner receives a £5000 travel bursary presented by the Cecil King Memorial Foundation.

Nominees Ed Caesar, The Independent Bryony Gordon, The Daily Telegraph Paul Lewis, The Guardian Rob Sharp, Freelance Gordon Smart, The Sun The Independent, 04 May, 2006 On a desk in the half-lit bowels of a suburban house, in a culde- sac of a smart neighbourhood, in the dreary, respectable town of Centreville, Virginia, sits an eighth-grade yearbook.

A blue, well-maintained volume filled with the informal scrawls and formal portraits of classmates, it lies open on the page where Jayson Blair’s cherubic face stares out. Underneath the photograph, the name ‘Jason Blair’

appears in small type… the ‘y’ was added, he tells me, some time during his fourteenth year. ‘There were a lot of “Jasons”,’ he explains. ‘I just wanted to be different.’

There is a ‘y’ planted deep inside his name and a ‘why’ attached to its every mention. But the episode for which he will forever be questioned – what he knows will form ‘the first line of my obituary’ – took shape in the spring of 2003.

At 27, Jayson Blair had the world at his feet. He was young, black and ambitious, and he was a staff reporter with one of the world’s greatest newspapers, The New York Times. …Journalism was the only thing Blair ever wanted to do, and he had been given the opportunity to live his dream.

But he blew it.

On 11 May 2003, The New York Times ran a 14,000-word front-page story dedicated to their young charge. The article, entitled ‘Deceptions in a Reporter’s Work’, found fault – either of plagiarism or fabrication – in 36 stories Blair had written for the newspaper.

The Cudlipp Award Daily Mail – National Memorial For editors, writers or teams of journalists, this award remembers the work of Hugh Cudlipp and recognises excellence in popular journalism.

Nominees Penman & Sommerlad Investigate, Daily Mirror National Memorial, The Daily Mail Environment Issues, The Independent Sarah’s Law, News of the World Giant Leaps, The Sun The Daily Mail, 23 January 2007 The foundation stone of the Armed Forces Memorial for Britain’s fallen heroes has been laid following a victorious Daily Mail campaign to secure lottery funding.

The moving ceremony was attended by relatives of Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, the first British Muslim soldier to be killed on active duty in Afghanistan.

The name of Lance Corporal Hashmi, who died on July 1 last year aged 24 while serving with 3 Para Battle Group, will be inscribed on the memorial which honours the 16,000 servicemen and women who have died in the line of duty since the Second World War.

Three months ago lottery chiefs caved in and agreed to help fund the memorial. The about-turn came less than 48 hours after the Mail launched a campaign highlighting their initial scandalous refusal to back the memorial because it did not ‘fit within the eligibility criteria’.

The Big Lottery Fund – under constant fire for funding controversial projects – had turned down a £4million grant for the memorial, infuriating war veterans, politicians and the public.

But after Mail’s intervention, £2.4 million was made available. Three million of the projected £7million cost had already been raised.

Mail readers have so far donated a further £120,000.

Foreign Reporter of the Year Christina Lamb – The Sunday Times For staff journalists and freelances filing reports from abroad for newspapers or agencies. The judges looked for an ability to bring foreign stories to life for a British audience.

Nominees Patrick Cockburn, The Independent Rupert Cornwell, The Independent Robert Fisk, The Independent Martin Fletcher, The Times Hala Jaber, The Sunday Times Barbara Jones, The Mail on Sunday Christina Lamb, The Sunday Times Simon Parry, The Mail on Sunday The Sunday Times, 02 July 2006 Round after round fizzed past our ears, sending up clouds of dust. My heart was thudding crazily against my flak jacket, my breath coming in short, rasping pants.

The whoosh of a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) close enough to lift the hairs on the back of my neck was followed by an orange blaze of flame as it landed nearby.

I hurled myself into an irrigation ditch and crouched amid the tall reeds, the soil just above me flying up as bullets landed all around. Then firing started coming from behind too. The Taliban had us from three sides.

It was late last Tuesday afternoon. Justin Sutcliffe, the photographer, and I were with the elite of the British Army, 48 men from C company of the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment – with an attachment of airborne troops from the Royal Irish Rangers – facing a bunch of Afghans in rubber sandals.

We could not see them, but we knew they were less than 100 yards away.

The silver-haired sergeant-major had kept us amused for days with his wisecracks, behind which was a touching concern for his soldiers and adoration for the girlfriend he was due to marry in November, whose photo he had shown me.

Now this veteran of two tours in Iraq and six in Northern Ireland was telling us we were the closest he had ever come to being ‘rolled up’.

Team of the Year Cash for Honours – The Sunday Times For newspaper teams that pulled together stories that required a multifaceted approach (subbing and design included). These could relate to a one-off news event, a long-running investigation, a series of reports or a campaign.

Nominees The Guardian, Investigations into BAE Systems The Guardian, World Cup coverage The Sunday Times, Cash for Honours Sunday Times Magazine, Seeing Is Believing campaign The Times, Iraq Team The Sunday Times, 15 January, 2006 Private donors to Tony Blair’s controversial city academies can obtain honours and peerages by sponsoring the schools, a senior adviser to the programme has revealed.

Des Smith, a council member of the trust that helps recruit sponsors for academies, disclosed that if a donor gave sufficient money, he could be nominated for an OBE, CBE or even a knighthood.

He described what appeared to be a tariff system, in which a benefactor who gave to ‘one or two’ academies might receive such an honour while a donor who gave to five would be ‘a certainty’ for a peerage.

Smith’s comments came during an undercover investigation by The Sunday Times. Suspicions of a link between honours and donations to academies– Blair’s scheme for new privately backed schools – have existed since the ambitious programme of establishing up to 200 academies began in 2001.

Six of the biggest academy sponsors have already been honoured after pledging their money.

Smith is an adviser to Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), and says he has been a regular visitor to Downing Street. Smith is a council member of the SSAT, and Taylor personally recommended him as a potential ‘project manager’ to an undercover reporter who approached the trust posing as a would-be donor.

Critic of the Year Craig Brown – The Mail on Sunday For reviewers of theatre, dance, music, art, book, food, television and radio. Writing that enlightens, grips and entertains the reader scored highly in this category.

Nominees Nancy Banks-Smith, The Guardian Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian Craig Brown, The Mail on Sunday Tom Lubbock, The Independent Ally Ross, The Sun The Mail on Sunday, 5 March 2006 In the space of a single case history of the Wolfman [Freud] – so-called because of his recurrent nightmare involving opening the window to be confronted by half a dozen wolves sitting in a walnut tree, staring back at him with terrifying intent – the reader is confronted by virtually every form of neurosis, from obsessivecompulsive behaviour to childhood seduction, from castration complex to anal eroticism, all described with meticulous detail, much of it unrepeatable here.

Within a single page, the reader may at one moment yawn at the long-winded technical language and at the next moment reel in horror at the certainty of Freud’s stark pronouncements (‘faeces are the first gift, the child’s loving sacrifice’), only to find himself once again exhilarated by Freud the storyteller.

At one point, for instance, the Wolfman recalls that when his governess was handing out sticks of barley sugar she playfully told him that they were chopped-up pieces of snake. This causes him to remember that his father had once come upon a snake when out for a walk and had chopped it into pieces with his walking stick. This in turn makes him remember the fable of the wolf who tries to catch fish in the winter by using his tail as bait, but the tail freezes in the ice and snaps off. ‘He was thus preoccupied with the thought of castration,’ deduces Freud.

Sports Journalist of the Year Ian Ridley – The Mail on Sunday For reporters, feature writers and columnists in the world of sport. The judges were looking for first-class agenda-setting journalism that gave the best insight into sport in 2006.

Nominees Matthew Engel, Financial Times Paul Hayward, The Daily Mail Paul Kimmage, The Sunday Times Ian Ridley, The Mail on Sunday Martin Samuel, The Times The Mail on Sunday, 29 October 2006 Tears well in his eyes and you fight to keep them from yours.

Not enough in modern, cynical football moves you but the sight of one of the English game’s great defenders and hard men beset by such deep sadness as he sits in his pub overlooking the Chesterfield Canal, recalling the events of one of the most poignant of lives and careers, would surely melt the stoniest of hearts.

Peter Swan apologises. ‘I’ve got this Alzheimer’s and it makes me worse,’

he says. ‘I want to cry because it’s bringing so many memories back. I could cry every day on different things.’

The recollection that has triggered the tears concerns his seven brothers, all miners, getting into fights while sticking up for him in his home village of Armthorpe, near Doncaster, in the aftermath of a betting scandal that became one of this country’s most notorious sporting episodes. Soon will come another trickle as he relives his return to a Sheffield Wednesday shirt after serving what turned out to be an eight-year ban from the game he loved playing so much.

‘The comeback game was unbelievable,’ he said. ‘As I’m going down the tunnel at Hillsborough, they gave me the match-ball to carry. The players stopped and I went out on my own. I thought they were behind me. It was tremendous, a terrific welcome back.’

Newspaper of the Year The Observer All national newspapers were automatically entered into this open category. The award has been judged in two stages in an academystyle voting system made up of a panel of 100 senior and highly respected figures from the wide media field. The ‘academy’ members were asked to assess each newspaper’s particular qualities and achievements throughout 2006.

Nominees Daily Mirror The Daily Mail The Guardian The Mail on Sunday The Observer

Sports Photographer of the Year Tom Jenkins – The Guardian For sports photographers who could submit both action and feature images from any sport.

The judges looked for pictures that got under the skin of a sport or a star or revealed a moment of drama.

Nominees Gareth Copley, PA Photos Tom Jenkins, The Guardian Colin Mearns, The Herald Mark Pain, The Mail on Sunday Dave Shopland, The Mail on Sunday Sports Photographer

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