FPA Media Awards 2026

MICHAEL CRICK has been a journalist for more than 40 years. He was a founder member of Channel 4 News, where he was later Washington Correspondent (1988-90) and Political Correspondent (2011-19). At the BBC he has been a reporter for Panorama; and for Newsnight, where he was Political Editor (2007-11). He has also made scores of films for the website MailPlus.

Crick's first book was Militant (1984), about the Trotskyist Militant tendency. His subsequent works have included biographies of Arthur Scargill, Jeffrey Archer, Michael Heseltine,Sir Alex Ferguson and most recently Nigel Farage. In 2018 he published Sultan of Swing, a biography of the distinguished Oxford psephologist Sir David Butler.

He won Royal Television Society [RTS] awards in 1989 and 2002, and was the RTS Specialist Journalist of the Year in both 2014 and 2018. Also in 2018, Crick was given the Charles Wheeler/British Journalism Review award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism. `

STRYKER McGUIRE is an Anglo-American journalist living in London. He spent 30 years at Newsweek, where he was a correspondent, bureau chief, senior editor and chief of correspondents. He ran the London bureau from 1996 until he retired from the magazine in 2008 and in 2000 he won the FPA's Best Foreign Reporting Award. In 2010, Stryker was retained by the London School of Economics and Political Science to create a magazine, LSE Research, that highlighted the work of university's academics. In 2011, he became a senior editor at Bloomberg Markets magazine; he retired last year. He continues to write occasionally for The Washington Post, The New European and other publications.

MEGHA MOHAN is the BBC World Service's first global gender and identity correspondent. She covers issues concerning race and ethnicity, women's rights and LGBT communities for the BBC's 41 language services. She has travelled to and reported from six continents and secured exclusive interviews with Finland's all-women coalition government and Samoa's first woman Prime Minister. Megha is a deployment journalist who files longform original features for BBC World TV, radio, online and social media.

2025 FPA Awards Winners for each category:

TV & RADIO STORY OF THE YEAR
BY A FULL MEMBER OF THE FPA

2025 Winner:
Ambroise Bouleis, Charline Madini, Léna Soudre
Inside Britain’s grooming gang scandal
‍France Télévisions

Azusa Suzuki, Yukiko Kishimoto, Simon Bradley, ありのままで走れ
‍Run as you are
‍Nippon TV, Japan

Wolf-Christian Ulrich, Joe Evans, Sarah Prietzsch, Jörg Ellmers
‍London: Stadt der Spione/City of Spies
‍ZDF, Germany

PRINT & WEB STORY OF THE YEAR
BY A FULL MEMBER OF THE FPA

Fleur Launspach
‍Aberdeen struggles with energy transition
‍Trouw, Netherlands.

2025 Winner:
Tessa Szyszkowitz, Florian Klenk
‍Pursued by Putin's hunters
‍Falter, Austria

Julie Zaugg
‍London’s use of facial recognition is surging
‍Le Monde, France

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE STORY OF THE YEAR

Jenny Kleeman
‍You tried to tell yourself I wasn’t real: what happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads?The Guardian Long Read

2025 Winner:
Sophie McBain
‍Look they’re getting skin!: are we right to strive to save the world’s tiniest babies?
‍The Guardian Long Read

Anna Meisel, Paul Kenyon, Carl Johnston Jess Staufenberg, Atika Rehman, Leigh Baldwin
‍The Tyre Scandal
‍BBC and Source Material

TV News Story of the Year

Jeremy Bowen
‍Settler violence
‍BBC News

2025 Winner:
Cathy Newman
‍The Case against the Archbishop (Welby interview)
Channel 4 News

John Sparks, Ameera Harouda, Celine Alkhaldi, Doaa Mohammad, Mahmoud Mashharawi
‍Inside Gaza’s Nasser Hospital
Sky News

Print & Web News Story of the Year

Manisha Ganguly
‍A deadly scheme
The Guardian

2025 Winner:
Jenny Kleeman
‍Inside Israel's fight to make fathers of its dead soldiers
Financial Times

Natalie Obiko Pearson, Jessica Brice
‍The Egg: A story of extraction, exploitation and opportunity
Bloomberg Businessweek

Radio/Podcast of the Year

Simon Maybin, China Collins
‍Currently: One week in Gaza
‍BBC

2025 Winner:
Kevin Hirten, Tamara Khandaker, Craig Pennington, Will Thorne
‍Uprising in Bangladesh
‍Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit

Gareth Brown, Sam Colbert, Gemma Newby, Weidong Lin
‍The hunt for Austin Tice
‍The Economist

Travel/Tourism Story of the Year

William Lee Adams, Phil Clarkson, Dawn Lake, Mike London, Karolina Mottram
‍Vietnam: Return to Banana Garden Market
‍The Travel Show, BBC

2025 Winner:
Atul Dev
‍Life in a 'sinking nation': Tuvalu's dreams of dry land
‍The Guardian Long Read

David Pilling
‍Deep into the Sahara, on a Mauritanian adventure
‍Financial Times
‍

Financial/Economic Story of the Year

Steve Boggan
‍Flipping Hell: How did a group trafficked from eastern Europe end up working as slaves in a car wash, a bread factory - and a branch of McDonald's?
‍Sunday Times Magazine

2025 Winner:
Tom Burgis
‍How oligarchs took on the UK fraud squad – and won
The Guardian Long Read‍

‍Juliette Garside, Manisha Ganguly, Ariane Lavrilleux, Harrison Taylor, Hans-Martin Tillack, Thaer Aabed
‍European missile group MBDA selling parts for bombs that have killed children in Gaza
‍The Guardian, Disclose, Follow the Money

ARTS & CULTURE Story of the Year

Miles Johnson
‍The Fugitive Prince
‍FT Weekend Magazine

Sam Knight
‍Under the hammer
‍New Yorker

2025 Winner:
Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, Sofia Fernandez Vyas, and Esella Hawkey
‍‍Inside China: The Battle for Tibet
‍ITV / Frontline PBS / Hardcash Productions

thomson foundation young journalist

2025 Winner:
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, Kenya
Video/Multimedia Journalist, Africa Uncensored

Blocked at the Bar
The Karatu Stadium Story.
Conversion therapy in Mombasa

Godwin Asediba, Ghana
Video Journalist, TV3

The Troubled Morgue
Trapped in War
Hooked on Red: The Red Opioid Crisis

Wangu Kanuri, Kenya
Print, The Daily Nation

Classrooms or Ovens? The price of schooling under a scorching sun.
Weight loss at what cost? Nairobi pharmacies now selling Ozempic illegally.
Shocking confessions of notorious practitioner who abandoned FGM

CITY UNIVERSITY MA STUDENT FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

Georgia de Gidlow
‍Copper Mountain Mine Project
‍Video

‍Pauline Nasri
‍Syrians returning from Turkey
‍Video

Jenna Legge
‍Swimming
‍Audio

‍2025 Winner:
Joseph Watt
‍To catch a virtual predator
‍Print

2026 FPA Awards Shortlist for each category:

TV & RADIO STORY OF THE YEAR
BY A FULL MEMBER OF THE FPA

Mareike Aden
Mathias Gnoth, Rabea Hayes, Erik Haasdonk, Anna Leier
The heirs of Brexit: We've had enough
ARD, Germany

Ben Lewis
Camera Adam Rosenberg
Glasgow: No Vacancy
SBS, Australia

Birgit Maass
Peter Thorn, Marwan Khafaji
The divide in London´s Jewish community
Deutsche Welle, Germany

PRINT & WEB STORY OF THE YEAR
BY A FULL MEMBER OF THE FPA

Karla Adam
Child poverty soars in Britain as working families struggle to keep up
Washington Post, USA

Antonello Guerrera
“Il Labour deve andare alle prossime elezioni con la promessa di rientrare in Ue”.
Sadiq Khan: “Labour should fight the next general election pledging to rejoin the EU”
La Repubblica, Italy.

Johannes Leithaeuser
Komm wir retten unseren Pub
Come on, let’s save the pub
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE STORY OF THE YEAR

Josephine Moulds, Sonia Rolley
He fought to save Congo’s mangroves, then the men with guns broke in
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism/PPLAAF(Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa)

Sudipto Sanyal
How do you replace 40 million dead vultures?
The Economist's 1843

Jon Snow
A last big story
Channel 4

TV NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR

Alex Crawford, Chris Cunningham, Garwen McLuckie, Osama Alfaitouri
East Libya: Europe's Deadly Gateway
Sky News

Yogita Limaye, Sanjay Ganguly, Imogen Anderson, Aakriti Thapar, Mahfouz Zubaide
Afghanistan--Impossible Choices
BBC News

Quentin Sommerville, Darren Conway
Jungle Hospital
BBC News

PRINT & WEB NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR

Mansi Choksi
The Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People
The Economist's 1843

Sarah Esther Maslin
The doctors keeping Cuba on life support
The Economist's 1843

Shaun Walker
A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them
Guardian

RADIO/PODCAST OF THE YEAR

Chloe Hadjimatheou, Gary Marshall, Sarah Dadouch
‘We call her Emma’
The Observer

Mohanad Hashim, Alex Last
Crossing Continents Return to Khartoum: war, loss and hope
BBC Radio 4

Laura Hughes, Persis Love and Topher Forhecz
Untold: Toxic Legacy
Financial Times

TRAVEL/TOURISM STORY OF THE YEAR

Kieran Morris
Endo dreams of sushi: a trip around Japan with one of the world’s greatest chefs
The Guardian Long Read

Alice Morrison
I’ve just walked the length of Saudi Arabia. As a single woman I’m breaking taboos
The Telegraph

Anja Popp, Thom Walker and team
Inside Tenerife’s Squatter Wars
Unreported World, Channel 4

FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC STORY OF THE YEAR

Eve Hartley, Sofia Villamil and team
Inside Colombia’s Cocaine War
The Wall Street Journal

Jeff Horwitz
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Reuters

Alex Perry
Patrick Pouyanné’s deadly gamble
Politico

ARTS & CULTURE STORY OF THE YEAR

Arkady Ostrovsky
The Kremlin put her on trial. She stole the show
The Economist's 1843

Madeleine Schwartz
‘I felt betrayed, naked’: did a prize-winning novelist steal a woman’s life story?
The Guardian Long Read

Lou Stoppard
The grab list: how museums decide what to save in a disaster
The Economist's 1843

THOMSON FOUNDATION YOUNG JOURNALIST

Atsahyel Aaron, Nigeria
Print, Video, Online/multimedia, Trust TV/Daily Trust
1. Gallari Mass Arrest; 12 Years after
2. Jilli: Investigating the Market Airstrike
3. Jilli: After the Airstrike

Humberto Basilio, Mexico
Print, Online/multimedia, Science Magazine
1. A passion for species.
2. After years of opposition, Mexico’s President is reconsidering fracking.
3. Oil helped build Venezuela’s science. Can oil now revive it?

William Kamau, Kenya
Reporter and Producer, Africa Uncensored
1. Inside East Africa's Human Trafficking Crisis: Kenyans & Ugandans Sold to Myanmar Scam Compounds
2. The Dark Side of Kenya’s Emergency Medical Services
3. Migrant Battalion: Kenya – ‘Credible and licensed agents’

CITY UNIVERSITY MA STUDENT FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

Anna Emmett Martin
Left to live: The rise of Italy’s controversial baby boxes
Multimedia

Ben Pawlowski
Sun, sea and civil war: Inside the battle for Spain’s tourism future
Long Read

Laura Rodriguez Torres
Lithium Mine
Multimedia

WINNER

tv & Radio Story of the Year by a Full Member of the FPA

fpa Media Awards 2025

Ambroise Bouleis, Charline Madini, Léna Soudre

Agressions sexuelles: Le scandale qui fait trembler le Royaume-Uni Inside Britain’s grooming gang scandal

France Télévisions

Judges comment:

This was a clear winner and praised as an effective account of a very important and complex story told in a strong way. A genuine new story, perfectly put together that brought vital attention to a subject long overlooked by the outside world.

WINNER

Print & web Story of the Year by a Full Member of the FPA

fpa Media Awards 2025

Tessa Szyszkowitz, Florian Klenk

Putins jagd auf wiener politiker polizisten und reporter / Pursued by Putin's hunters

Falter, Austria

Judges comment:

In a very close contest that needed the Chair’s casting vote, this tightly structured and solidly evidenced story that reveals the fragility of Europe’s security system, just made it over the line. Ambitious and fascinating – the judges thought it also achieved a rare balance between dramatic tension and public significance.

WINNER

ENVIRONMENT & science Story of the Year

fpa Media Awards 2025

Sophie McBain

Look they’re getting skin!: are we right to strive to save the world’s tiniest babies?

The Guardian Long Read

Judges comment:

A comfortable winner. A beautiful piece about the human side of a social problem that can affect almost everyone. It strikes at the very meaning of life. For anyone who had been affected by premature birth, this was hard to read but very important.

WINNER

TV NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR

fpa Media Awards 2025

Cathy Newman

The Case against the Archbishop (Welby interview)

Channel 4 News

Judges comment:

The judges thought this was a master class in interviewing and a beautiful example of the craft. They praised the calm and resolute tone and the lengthy Investigation which preceded it. The interview sent shockwaves through Britain and shortly afterwards provoked the resignation of the Archbishop. A huge achievement.

WINNER

PRINT & WEB NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR

fpa Media Awards 2025

Jenny Kleeman

Inside Israel's fight to make fathers of its dead soldiers

Financial Times

Judges comment:

A very engaging story with compelling subject matter that shows strong narrative and character-driven reporting. The interviews are thorough and shed light on an issue about which most people were previously unaware. It explores the theme of grief and issues confronted when dealing with the death of loved ones.

WINNER

RADIO/PODCAST OF THE YEAR

fpa Media Awards 2025

Kevin Hirten, Tamara Khandaker, Craig Pennington, Will Thorne

Uprising in Bangladesh

Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit

Judges comment:

This was so close that once again the Chair’s casting vote was needed. In a very strong field, this hair-raising story from Bangladesh shows the importance of the live element. The powerful act of witness of Abu Sayed’s death illustrates that a single individual can alter the course of a nation – but without the coverage, his death would have passed unnoticed. Told with great immediacy as the recordist was also shot, this was the example of a death that was not in vain.

WINNER

Travel/Tourism Story of the Year

fpa Media Awards 2025

Atul Dev

Life in a 'sinking nation': Tuvalu's dreams of dry land

The Guardian Long Read

Judges comment:

The reporting was grounded and thorough and reflected the time and effort the journalist had spent in this really challenging environment to fully grasp what was at stake.

WINNER

FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC STORY OF THE YEAR

fpa Media Awards 2025

Tom Burgis

How oligarchs took on the UK fraud squad – and won

The Guardian Long Read

Judges comment:

Deeply disturbing, this investigation should lead to institutional reform. In a close contest, this was another win for the Guardian Long Read as it really had the edge. A massive story, grippingly written and revealed layer by layer.

WINNER

ARTS & CULTURE STORY OF THE YEAR

fpa Media Awards 2025

Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, Sofia Fernandez Vyas, and Esella Hawkey

Inside China: The Battle for Tibet

ITV / Frontline PBS / Hardcash Productions

Judges comment:

The panel thought this was as good as documentaries get – fantastic, absolutely brilliant TV with so much they didn’t know. A clear winner and the strongest finalist. The panel found it particularly relevant that the Chinese Embassy in London called for the broadcast of the programme to be cancelled.

WINNER

THOMSON FOUNDATION YOUNG JOURNALIST

fpa Media Awards 2025

Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, Kenya

Video/MultimediaJournalist, Africa Uncensored

1. Blocked at the Bar

2. The Karatu Stadium Story.

3. Conversion therapy in Mombasa

Judges comment:

Tracy was the clear winner for her versatility, vibrancy and commitment to good journalism. A very engaging all-rounder who tells hard hitting stories about Kenyan life without sensationalism and in a very human and brave way.

WINNER

CITY UNIVERSITY MA STUDENT FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

fpa Media Awards 2025

Joseph Watt

To catch a virtual predator

Judges comment:

This was the unanimous choice of the judges. An excellent piece of investigative journalism – well researched, international in scope and very well written. A standout piece that one of judges couldn’t stop thinking about. Calm, precise storytelling which let the victims’ voices speak for themselves.

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