Doug Wills, chair of the London Press Club, said in the annual awards presentation: “You will remember that at our awards last year David Attenborough warned us all that we were on the edge of extinction. We didn’t quite realise how soon!
“This year Covid ripped up all our news schedules and the Press Club’s annual celebration of excellence over a good lunch. Instead, we decided to hold the Press Club’s long anticipated awards for 2019 virtually.
“Thank you all for your support of the Press Club… and of the industry. Journalism needs you. And the public has never needed trusted journalism so much as now.
“I would like to congratulate all those commended by the judges and also thank them for their patience in waiting until today for the winners to be announced. We had hoped to have held the awards with a lunch in the autumn, but Covid rules of separation beat us. We should have listened more carefully to David Attenborough!
“Thank you to Nick Ferrari for taking on the onerous job of chairing the awards judging panel, thank you Kate Silverton for once again being our awards presentation compere and announcer, and thank you to our sponsors who have stood by us in a difficult year.”
