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CLAIRE Ruckin, Chief Reporter at Legal Week and BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thinking Allowed’ have won this year’s Bar Council Legal Reporting Awards in the print and broadcast categories respectively. The awards, now in their 19th year, were set up by the Bar Council to recognise print and broadcast journalists, whose work contributes to a greater public understanding of legal issues. The awards were handed out at the 25th Annual Bar Conference on Saturday 6 November by the Attorney General, the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP.
In the print category, Claire Ruckin won for her outstanding indepth feature on the fall of Halliwells, ‘Divided we fall – behind the headlines, the drama and confusion of Halliwells’ collapse’, published in September 2010.
Special praise was given to Frances Gibb for her article ‘Supreme ambition, jealousy and outrage’ published in the Times in February 2010, to Mary Riddell for two articles on prison reform from the Daily Telegraph in January and June 2010, and to Robert Verkaik for his series of pieces on Guantanamo Bay, from the Independent in August 2010.
In the broadcast category, this year’s winner was the ‘Thinking Allowed’ series on BBC Radio 4 on White Collar Crimes, presented by Laurie Taylor and produced by Charlie Taylor and broadcast in November 2009. There was a special commendation for Clive Coleman’s Law in Action programme, also on BBC Radio 4, entitled ‘the death of the super-injunction?’, which was broadcast in February 2010.
The judging panel comprised:
“The judges had a very tough decision, choosing between some incredibly high quality entries. However, we managed to reach a unanimous decision in both categories. We felt that Claire’s in-depth and thoroughly researched piece took a timely and considered approach to the biggest collapse in the legal sector for some years. It was felt particularly relevant, as the Bar looks to adapt and modernise its structures, to understand the business of legal entities and the potential pitfalls.
Thinking Allowed’s sustained and thought-provoking investigation into the complex and contemporary issue of white collar crime made it stand out, as did the impressive and comprehensive list of interviews that the programme included”.
In the print category, Claire Ruckin won for her outstanding indepth feature on the fall of Halliwells, ‘Divided we fall – behind the headlines, the drama and confusion of Halliwells’ collapse’, published in September 2010.
Special praise was given to Frances Gibb for her article ‘Supreme ambition, jealousy and outrage’ published in the Times in February 2010, to Mary Riddell for two articles on prison reform from the Daily Telegraph in January and June 2010, and to Robert Verkaik for his series of pieces on Guantanamo Bay, from the Independent in August 2010.
In the broadcast category, this year’s winner was the ‘Thinking Allowed’ series on BBC Radio 4 on White Collar Crimes, presented by Laurie Taylor and produced by Charlie Taylor and broadcast in November 2009. There was a special commendation for Clive Coleman’s Law in Action programme, also on BBC Radio 4, entitled ‘the death of the super-injunction?’, which was broadcast in February 2010.
The judging panel comprised:
“The judges had a very tough decision, choosing between some incredibly high quality entries. However, we managed to reach a unanimous decision in both categories. We felt that Claire’s in-depth and thoroughly researched piece took a timely and considered approach to the biggest collapse in the legal sector for some years. It was felt particularly relevant, as the Bar looks to adapt and modernise its structures, to understand the business of legal entities and the potential pitfalls.
Thinking Allowed’s sustained and thought-provoking investigation into the complex and contemporary issue of white collar crime made it stand out, as did the impressive and comprehensive list of interviews that the programme included”.
CLAIRE Ruckin, Chief Reporter at Legal Week and BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thinking Allowed’ have won this year’s Bar Council Legal Reporting Awards in the print and broadcast categories respectively. The awards, now in their 19th year, were set up by the Bar Council to recognise print and broadcast journalists, whose work contributes to a greater public understanding of legal issues. The awards were handed out at the 25th Annual Bar Conference on Saturday 6 November by the Attorney General, the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP.
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