3 days ago
Mediahuis journalists win top honours at the Justice Media Awards
Almost 140 journalists gathered at the Law Society of Ireland for the announcement of the awards' winners.
Mark Tighe of the Sunday Independent and Marie Crowe of RTÉ won the inaugural award in the Print-Online Journalism Feature category for their joint investigation on 'Field of Broken Dreams'.
The judges described it as a 'superb two-and-a-half-year investigation highlighting the mistreatment and wrongs made against women footballers who suffered in silence', adding it was a 'standout entry' and a 'deserving winner'.
Mr Tighe and Ms Crowe along with RTÉ Investigates director Frank Shouldice also scooped the merit certificate in the Human Rights and Social Justice Reporting Broadcast category for their 'Girls in Green' investigation.
The Irish Independent special correspondent Catherine Fegan was awarded three merit certificates.
In the Print and Online Journalism Daily category, she was awarded for her reporting 'Taking Back the Power' – in which three survivors of rape tell of their tough decision to waive their right to anonymity so the perpetrators could be named.
Ms Fegan was awarded in the Human Rights and Social Justice Reporting in Print and Online for 'School abuse victims demand justice: I didn't talk to anyone about it. I just carried it all inside', and also won in the Court Reporting Print and Online category for her piece 'Nikita Hand v Conor McGregor: The Moment the Mask Slipped'.
The Irish Independent legal affairs editor Shane Phelan was awarded a merit certificate for his 'Key factors that may have swayed the jury in Nikita Hand case against Conor McGregor' in the Court Reporting Print and Online category.
In the Print and Online Journalism Sunday category, Sunday Independent journalist Ali Bracken claimed a merit certificate for her reporting 'Conviction of James Kilroy for murdering his wife Valerie French is not the end of the legal road for the French family'.
There were also two merit certificates won by the Irish Independent podcasts in the Broadcast Journalism Podcast category.
The Indo Daily team, including Garrett Mulhall, Fionnán Sheahan, Robin Schiller, Carlo Salizzo, Ian Doyle, Hugh Keenan, and Rory Bowens, were awarded for the episode titled 'Wanted: Gardaí release images of 99 Dublin riot suspects, is it a worrying precedent?'
Meanwhile, Mr Tighe and Joe Molloy of the Indo Sport were awarded for the Indo Sport's episode called 'Nikita Hand wins David and Goliath case against Conor McGregor'.
Former Irish Independent journalist Ellen Coyne also won a merit certificate for her reporting on 'Domestic violence victims forced into homelessness by lack of refuge spaces' in the Human Rights and Social Justice Reporting in Print and Online category.
President of the Law Society Eamon Harrington said: 'The record-breaking number of entries this year shows that the standard of Irish legal journalism remains incredibly high.
'As journalists across the world continue to face threats, it is more important than ever to recognise and support responsible journalism, and those who produce it.'
