Telegraph sweeps board at industry’s sporting Oscars

Sports Newspaper of the Year – two years running

The Daily Telegraph was last night named Sports Newspaper of the Year for the second year running as our journalism dominated the industry’s sporting Oscars.

Chief Football Writer Sam Wallace was a double winner at the Sports Journalism Awards, picking up Scoop of the Year and Football Journalist of the Year for his agendasetting exclusive on Project Big Picture. Chief Cricket Correspondent Nick Hoult was crowned Cricket Journalist of the Year for the first time for a stellar year of scoops, interviews and brilliant live reporting.

Judges said of the Sports Newspaper victory: “In a testing year for newspapers generally and sports departments in particular, the winner of this award has more than risen to the task of making sure sport has not been forgotten. In addition to a series of agenda-setting exclusives, there were two excellent campaigns – on grass-roots sport and dementia in sport.

“This paper can boast some smart design, high-quality pictures and the best roster of football writers. There is also the USP of a Women’s Sport section that continues to push the boundaries. This was an outstanding product and an outstanding entry. Last year, this paper was praised for its ‘consistency of performance’ and it’s done it again.”

Of Wallace’s football journalist win, the judges said: “This category is almost always a close call – but not this time. The winning entry came with the biggest football story of the year in what judges called ‘a superb showcase of a football journalist at the top of his trade.’”

Wallace’s Project Big Picture scoop was called “sports journalism at its finest”. Hoult was described as “the Ben Stokes of cricket writers, a consummate all-rounder who turns runs, wickets and catches into contacts, stories and interviews”.