Caruana Galizia died in a car bomb explosion in October. Since , it is my look back at media events, people and incidents of the year, The award reflects who I think has stood out in the field in the calendar year. There is no black tie event, no actual award and the winners are totally oblivious and would have probably been unimpressed anyway apart from Clementine Ford in who did notice and was kind enough appreciate it. Sadly for the second year in a row the award is given posthumously.
The nature of the award has changed over the years. Scott impressed not only for taking on the behemoth but also putting the Australian national broadcaster firmly in the digital domain. Twelve months later a newcomer had taken that message of digital journalism to heart. Perhaps it explains his own switch to the right over the years. Judge Brian Leveson took it further in overseeing the painstaking testimony in the inquiry that followed.
His disclosures revealed global surveillance programs, run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with help from telecommunication companies and European governments. Like Assange his willingness to reveal items of national security endangered his life and like Assange Wikileaks tried to get him to Ecuador. My award went to jailed Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Basher Mohamed for their bravery in standing up to the Egyptian legal system although their meddling Qatari employer was not blameless.
In it went to Clementine Ford for her feminist truth bombs and went to David Bowie , mainly for being David Bowie and dying early in the year. His death set off a meme that was the worst year ever. People have seen many worrying parallels with the late s as Trump and Putin encourage the rise of totalitarianism and legitimise far right-wing groups.
As extreme right wing politicians take power across the world, the wealthy do what they always have done — accumulate power and wealth illegally. They also use all means including murder to keep their dirty work secret. This is why public interest journalism remains so important even if the media that employs them is rapidly denuding. Daphne Caruana Galizia , was one of the best, a prominent Maltese investigative journalist and blogger who moved from her earlier employment with newspapers to get the word out through investigative blogs.
