The Financial Times last night received two 2021 British Journalism Awards for outstanding investigative reporting into Greensill Capital. These accolades continue a year of recognition for FT journalists’ work on this groundbreaking story, having received the 2021 Private Eye Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism in June.
For Investigation of the Year, the judges said that the FT had conducted “an extraordinary team investigation exposing corruption at the highest levels of politics and business.”
In the Politics Journalism category, Jim Pickard, Cynthia O’Murchu, Robert Smith and Arash Massoudi were recognised for their investigation into David Cameron and Greensill that was “one of those stories people will look back on in terms of its impact and exposing how corrupt our politics can be”.
The judges added that “It was impressive to see the level of collaboration between politics, data and business teams for in-depth investigation which also involved overturning a Freedom of Information request refusal.”
- The unravelling of Lex Greensill: a mix of bravado and financial alchemy
- Greensill’s demise shines spotlight on government ties
- David Cameron lobbied for Greensill access to Covid loan schemes
- How Lex Greensill and David Cameron tried to woo Saudi Arabia’s crown prince
The FT’s Tom Burgis and George Parker were also highly commended for their coverage of Conservative Party financing.
- Elite Tory donors club holds secret meetings with Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak
- Inside Boris Johnson’s money network
- The donor, the Russian deals and the Conservative money machine
FT news editor Matthew Garrahan said: “The Greensill investigation was FT journalism at its best, a true collaboration by some brilliant journalists, masterfully edited by Tom Braithwaite. Winning the politics award and the commendation for Tom Burgis and George Parker for their reporting on Conservative Party financing underscores that the FT’s political team is the best in the business.”
The 29 prize winners were chosen by 70 independent judges who considered 840 submissions from every major UK news organisation with three criteria in mind: revelation, journalistic rigour and public interest.
Ends
For more information, please contact: Mark Staniland | mark.staniland@ft.com
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.