LBC’s breakfast show presenter Nick Ferrari has been named as Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.
He’s the first radio presenter to win the award, and he picked up his prize at an awards dinner on Monday evening. Around 400 journalists from across the industry attended the event held at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms.
Nick told RadioToday: “I remember reading Press Gazette when I was in my teens because my late Dad, who was a bigwig at the Daily Mirror, read it religiously. That’s why the honour meant so much… this one was for you, Dad.”
The judges said: “Eschewing the hectoring style often associated with heavy-hitting political interviews, Nick Ferrari’s focus on the facts, ability to think on his feet and lightness of touch secured his status as a star performer during the 2017 election campaign. As well as his famous encounter with Diane Abbot he also secured headline-grabbing interfviews with Theresa May and Tim Farron.
“In 2017 he launched the Guard Our Emergency Staff campaign which prompted a 100,000 signature petition and helped bring about the Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill.
“As the Grenfell Fire still smouldered he interviewed former Chief Fire officer Ronnie King who revealed the government’s failure to act on safety recommendations following the Lakanal House fire in 2009. Nick Ferrari is quite simply the 2017 journalist of the year.”
