Winners announced at record-breaking 26th Justice Media Awards
The Law Society of Ireland has this afternoon (Thursday 22 June 2017) revealed the winners of the annual Justice Media Awards – Ireland’s longest continuously-running media awards – with the team from RTE’s Nationwide taking the overall Award.
Around 120 of the nation’s leading journalists gathered for an awards ceremony in the historic Presidents’ Hall at Blackhall Place (within the headquarters of the Law Society of Ireland), with 42 awards and merits handed out to deserving entrants.
“The Justice Media Awards are a key highlight of the year for many within both the media and legal professions,” said Stuart Gilhooly, President of the Law Society. “This year we received 152 entries – an almost 50% increase on 2016 – our highest ever.”
"We believe it is vitally important to recognise, reward and encourage excellence in legal journalism. Since their instigation in 1992, these awards have sought to push the media industry to raise the bar and improve the public’s understanding of justice, the legal system, and citizen’s rights in Ireland.”
“National, local and increasingly online media plays a crucial role in this task, and in their 26th year, the Awards are as relevant as ever. Newsrooms are under great strain – as a result longform, investigative and analytical journalism is at a premium.”
“We acknowledge this and appreciate those many journalists who took the time to submit entries and be with us today.”
During his speech, Mr Gilhooly impressed upon the assembled journalists the need to ensure factual reporting and background research were crucial in pushing-back against the tide of speculative and opinionated corporate propaganda that has become part of our lives.
“This is why honest, hard-working and in-depth investigative journalism is vital to uphold in Ireland. Our members are representing the interests of those often without a voice, and you can see by the standard and quality of reporting in this year’s awards, the vast majority of journalists are also driven by a need to seek the truth, raise issues and educate.”
"The Justice Media Awards set extremely high standards. I would like to congratulate all of our winners today and I wish them continued success in their journalistic endeavours.”
