Nick Davies wins the 2011 Groucho Club Maverick AwardGuardian journalist at the heart of the News International hacking exposé scoops The Groucho Club's antidote to other awards.
UK investigative journalist Nick Davies was tonight, Monday 14 November, announced as the winner of the 2011 Groucho Club Maverick Award. Nick Davies was selected from an exceptional shortlist of three men and three women by a panel of Groucho members for his unique contribution to UK and international media, culture and social change during 2011. The shortlist reflected an unprecedented year of major global shocks and shifts in the world of media, politics and finance and also included:
Artist and activist, Molly Crabapple
British actor, Idris Elba
Turner Prize shortlisted artist, Hilary Lloyd
The outspoken Times journalist and author, Caitlin Moran
The Labour MP, Tom Watson
Launched in 2010 as ‘the antidote to other awards', the Maverick Award celebrates people who have broken the mould in their own particular field, by challenging and making a significant contribution to our culture in the past 12 months, either in the UK or internationally.
Nick Davies fits the bill perfectly as the journalist who uncovered the phone-hacking taking place at The News of the World, which has had unimaginable repercussions and caused a major Parliamentary enquiry and a radical overhaul of the Press Complaints Commission. Even as the final judging session was taking place, the Leveson Enquiry was uncovering evidence of hacking by further tabloid newspapers, with more to come.
Chair of judges, Dotti Irving, commented on behalf of the panel: ‘It was fascinating to see how closely our shortlist reflected the zeitgeist. A number of the people on our 2011 shortlist have been directly involved with the historic events and epoch-changing turbulence of the last year. All of their work shows an unwillingness to toe the establishment line which chimes closely with the Groucho's own ethic.
‘But one issue - phone hacking - has dominated the cultural agenda over the last year, bringing to the fore the courage and persistence of Nick Davies who tirelessly continued to dig into a story that others wished either to ignore or cover up.'
‘Mr Nice', Howard Marks - himself a consummate maverick - made the announcement at an evening awards party at the Groucho Club, hosted by Steve Furst. Howard presented Nick Davies with a cheque for £10,000, a lifetime membership of The Groucho Club, and a bronze sculpture by artist, Gavin Turk. The twin of the sculpture is currently on display in the Club's foyer. In addition, all the shortlist were given a year's membership of the club. This year's judges were: art critic and broadcaster, Matthew Collings; film consultant, Peter Dunne; PR guru, Lynne Franks; Groucho Club managing director, Matt Hobbs; cultural PR, Dotti Irving (chair) and artist, Polly Morgan.
For additional information, please contact:
Katy MacMillan
+44(0)20 7631 2666
katy@colmangetty.co.uk
Liam Anderson
+44(0)20 7439 4685
liam.anderson@thegrouchoclub.com