The Comment Awards are run by Editorial Intelligence, the knowledge networking business.
Now in their seventh year, the awards will incorporate four new categories this year to reflect a growing and developing media landscape: Comment Piece of the Year for a single piece of excellent writing; Young Commentariat of the Year; Society and Diversity Commentator of the Year; and Technology and Digital Commentator of the Year.
Nominations are open to everyone, from editors to readers, and can be submitted free of charge via the Comment Awards website. All nominees have to write for the UK media and articles need to have been written between 1 August 2014 and 31 July 2015 inclusive. Deadline for submissions is 31 July 2015.
This year’s judges, chaired by Dr Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College, hail from an eclectic range of industries and background, and include: broadcaster and author, Anita Anand; Director of Entertainment and Comedy at ITV, Elaine Bedell; Managing Partner for Talent UK & Ireland at EY, Liz Bingham OBE; Professor of American Literature at the University of East Anglia, Sarah Churchwell; director and producer Menhaj Huda; President of YouGov, Peter Kellner; Editor of Management Today, Matthew Gwyther; Founder of MDR, Chris Preddie OBE; journalist and author, Rachel Shabi; and Global Business Leader at Google, James Rosenthal.
Announcing the news, chair of judges Dr Anthony Seldon said: “Against the backdrop of a UK general election, attacks on freedom of expression, and a changing media landscape, the past 12 months have been a challenging time for comment journalism; yet never has the form been more important. With nominations open to editors, writers and readers alike, The Comment Awards 2015 is set once again to turn the spotlight on the best of British comment journalism, celebrating a segment of our media that thoroughly deserves the attention.”
Winners of The Comment Awards 2014 included: David Aaronovitch at The Times for Commentariat of the Year; Dominic Lawson at Daily Mail and The Sunday Times for Columnist of the Year; and The Times overall for Best Comment Pages.
The Comment Awards 2015 categories:
Arts, Culture and Entertainment Commentator of the Year
Business Commentator of the Year (sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services)
Business Ethics Commentator of the Year (sponsored by IESE Business School)
Columnist of the Year (sponsored by Ipsos Mori)
Comment Pages of the Year (sponsored by Vodafone)
*NEW* Comment Piece of the Year (sponsored by eiDigest)
Commentariat of the Year (sponsored by John Lewis)
Economics Commentator of the Year (sponsored by Barclays)
Foreign Commentator of the Year (gifted to the IRC – International Rescue Committee)
Independent Blogger of the Year
Media Commentator of the Year
Online Comment Site of the Year (sponsored by Virgin Media)
Political Commentator of the Year (sponsored by Weber Shandwick)
Science Commentator of the Year (sponsored by The Wellcome Trust)
*NEW* Society and Diversity Commentator of the Year (sponsored by Lloyd’s Banking Group)
*NEW* Technology and Digital Commentator of the Year
*NEW* Young Commentariat of the Year (sponsored by the Taylor Bennett Foundation)
Chair’s Choice (chosen by the Chair of the Judges)
Barclays is the lead partner to the awards, with LBC supporting as broadcast media partner. Additional category sponsors will be announced shortly, say the orgnaisers.
The Comment Awards 2015 shortlist will be revealed on 17 September, while the winners will be announced at a special ceremony in London on 24 November.
