THE Scots columnist, Hugo Rifkind has been recognised in a media awards competition celebrating ‘comment’.
The Times columnist – who also writes for The Spectator and GQ magazines – has been named winner of the Media Commentator category in the Comment Awards, run by Editorial Intelligence, which describes itself as a “knowledge networking business”.
Rifkind was a columnist on The Herald until he joined The Times seven years ago.
Meanwhile, the young Scots pupil, whose blog about school food became an internet sensation after her local authority tried to ban it, was named runner-up in the Independent Blogger category.
Martha Payne’s blog, www.neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk, has so far raised £120,000 for the charity, Mary’s Meals. It shot to prominence after Argyll and Bute Council initially appeared to take exception to its content. Recently, Martha visited Malawi where – with a BBC Scotland TV crew in tow – she visited a feeding project run by Mary’s Meals.
The winners and runners-up were as follows:
Best Online Comment Site
Coffee House, The Spectator – Winner
Comment is Free, The Guardian and Observer
New Statesman
The Sunday Times
Business Commentator
Michael Skapinker, Financial Times – Winner
Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times
Anthony Hilton, London Evening Standard and The Independent
Cultural Commentator
Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair – Winner
Caitlin Moran, The Times
Will Self, New Statesman
Economics Commentator
Roger Bootle, The Daily Telegraph – Winner
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Daily Telegraph
Martin Wolf CBE, Financial Times
Foreign Commentator
Marie Colvin, The Sunday Times – Winner
Patrick Cockburn, The Independent on Sunday
Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair
Donald Macintyre, The Independent
Independent Blogger
Mic Wright, www.brokenbottleboy.tumblr.com – Winner
Emma Burnell, www.scarletstandard.co.uk
Martha Payne, www.neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk
Mainstream Media Blogger
Andrew Sparrow, The Guardian – Winner
Ellie-Mae O’Hagan, The Guardian
Rowenna Davis, New Statesman
Media Commentator
Hugo Rifkind, The Times – Winner
Peter Preston, The Observer
Gideon Spanier, London Evening Standard
Michael Wolff, The Guardian and GQ
Political Commentator
Tim Montgomerie, The Times – Winner
Philip Collins, The Times
Matthew d’Ancona, The Sunday Telegraph, GQ and the London Evening Standard
Sketch Commentator
Ann Treneman, The Times – Winner
Quentin Letts, The Daily Mail
Simon Hoggart, The Guardian and The Spectator
Columnist of the Year
Janet Street-Porter, The Independent on Sunday – Winner
Rosamund Urwin, London Evening Standard
Toby Young, The Sun and The Spectator
Sports Commentator
Simon Barnes, The Times – Winner
Mike Atherton, The Times
Martin Samuel, The Daily Mail
Twitter Politician
Tom Watson MP, @tom_watson – Winner
Louise Mensch MP, @LouiseMensch
Diane Abbott MP, @HackneyAbbott
Twitter Public Personality
Laurie Penny, @PennyRed – Winner
Toby Young, @toadmeister
Deborah Orr, @DeborahJaneOrr
Best Comment Pages
The Times – Winner
Financial Times
London Evening Standard
Commentariat of the Year
David Aaronovitch, The Times – Winner
Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian
Suzanne Moore, The Mail on Sunday and The Guardian
Chair’s Choice
AA Gill, The Sunday Times
