How will the press awards&#39; judges reach their compromise this time?

Friday, February 25, 2011

How will the press awards' judges reach their compromise this time?

Oh to be a fly on the wall when the "academy" of "independent" judges debate one particular category in the latest set of British press awards.

I refer to the formidable task they face in selecting the scoop of the year.

There are eight choices, and most are tinged with controversy. Imagine the discussion over the relative qualities of The Guardian's revelations about News of the World phone-hacking scandal compared to the News of the World's revelations about Pakistani cricket corruption.

How will the Daily Telegraph's revelations of Vince Cable's indiscretions about Rupert Murdoch stack up against The Guardian's WikiLeaks revelations?

Then there's the Telegraph's exclusive on treasury minister David Laws - prompting his resignation from the coalition government - to consider alongside the Sunday Mirror's scoop about Wayne Rooney's dalliances with a prostitute (which didn't lead to his resignation).

My hunch, given that only The Guardian and The Independent have reported fully on phone-hackery, is that the "academy" will not be quite "independent" enough to find in its favour.

Then again, the reporter on phone-hacking - Nick Davies - is also on the shortlist with David Leigh in the news reporter category (presumably for WikiLeaks).

And one of their rivals there is none other than the fake sheikh, the NoW's investigations editor Mazher Mahmood. Did the judges fail to note that yet another of his past victims had his conviction quashed because of Mahmood's entrapment and use of an agent provocateur? Then again, do they care?

The other interesting judging compromise will concern the campaign of the year. Will it by the London Evening Standard's remarkable success in raising millions for the capital's dispossessed (my favourite, but I do write a weekly column for the paper) or one of The Times's three - yes, three - campaigns on money wasted on defence spending, on overbilling by NPower and on the opposition to the stoning of a woman in Iran.

Did I say compromise? Yes, watch out for the way in which the "academy" spreads the gongs around to ensure that everyone is, sort of, happy.

It's a long tradition in which changes of judging structure, walk-outs, refusals to take part, alternative award ceremonies and drunken misbehaviour have had no effect whatsoever.