Liz Mackean and Meirion Jones, who worked on Newsnight's spiked Jimmy Savile investigation, have won scoop of the year at the London Press Club awards, sharing the prize with two others involved in exposing the late Jim'll Fix It presenter's sexual abuse of children.
In an unusual move, the London Press Club awards judges gave the 2013 scoop of the year award jointly to Mackean, Jones, Miles Goslett – who eventually broke the Savile abuse story in the Oldie magazine – and Mark Williams-Thomas, the former policeman and child protection expert behind the ITV Exposure documentary that finally propelled it into a full-blown national scandal last autumn.
Bill Hagerty, chairman of the LPC judges, said that even though reporter Mackean and producer Jones' investigation never saw the light of day after being shelved by then Newsnight editor Peter Rippon in December 2011, subsequent events showed the story they uncovered was "dynamite".
After collecting the joint award at the LPC event in central London on Wednesday, Mackean, who recently took voluntary redundancy from the BBC, said: "BBC command and control would not be delighted by the award being given to Meirion and myself. It just goes to show you cannot keep a good story down."
She added that the BBC "failed to act and should have run the story".
Jones, who has now moved to Panorama, also praised Hannah Livingston, the Newsnight researcher who worked on the Savile investigation.
He said it amazed him that in 2013 there was still no UK law compelling anyone who witnessed child abuse, or heard of others abusing children, to report it to the police.
Both Goslett and Williams-Thomas paid tribute to Mackean and Jones. "These are two of the best journalists this country has," Williams-Thomas said.
Goslett took the story that Newsnight had dropped its Savile investigation to several national newspapers. It was eventually published in the Oldie magazine in February 2012.
Williams-Thomas had worked with Mackean and Jones on the Newsnight investigation in late 2011 and, after their film was spiked, took the story to ITV, where it was eventually broadcast as an Exposure documentary in early October 2012, with devastating consequences.
List of winners
Daily newspaper of the year
The Times
Sunday newspaper of the year
The Mail on Sunday
Scoop of the year – Jimmy Savile abuse scandal
Miles Goslett, the Oldie
Liz MacKean and Meirion Jones, Newsnight, BBC2
Mark Williams-Thomas, Exposure, ITV
Business journalist of the year
Tom Bergin – Reuters
Blog of the year
Fleet Street Fox – Susie Boniface
Arts reviewer of the year
Chris Tookey – Daily Mail
Broadcast journalist of the year
John Humphrys – Today Programme, BBC Radio 4
Edgar Wallace award
Caitlin Moran – the Times
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