Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

A deserving winner – and undeserving losers – from last night’s UK Press Awards

Last night’s UK Press Awards stood out for deserving winners – and some undeserving losers.

Andrew Norfolk of The Times won two gongs for his extraordinary investigation into child abuse in Rotherham, which exemplified what good journalism can achieve. Norfolk ploughed away at this for years, often as the only journalist in the courtroom putting together a picture that the authorities did not want to see: Muslim men abusing white girls. His investigation triggered an inquiry which exposed a crime and some 1,300 victims.

It’s lonely work, and pretty depressing to spend months on end acquainting yourself with every detail of a story that involves the basest human behaviour. But Norfolk’s reporting established what the police could not, and what the authorities would not. It’s not often that any journalist at those awards is given standing ovation by other hacks (winners are far more likely to be heckled) but Norfolk was cheered to the rafters when he collected the gong last night.

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