by Charlotte Barnes
We are delighted to announce that Simon Rogers is the winner of the inaugural XCity Award.
Simon was awarded the prize for his pioneering work as Editor of the Guardian’s DataBlog and DataStore, the online resources at the forefront of data journalism.
Simon was thrilled to receive the £500 prize. He said: “The win is a huge honour. It gives recognition to the importance of data journalism in the world now. A couple of years ago no one had really heard of this field. Over the past year, with organisations like Wikileaks driving data related media stories, we have seen data journalism really gain momentum. It serves an important role in serving the public interest and I hope this will continue.”
Simon was crucial in the Guardian’s decision to crowdsource data on MPs’ expenses when they were released in 2009, as well as being a key part of the newspaper’s coverage of Wikileaks’ Afghan war logs.
Professor George Brock, Head of Journalism at City University London and a member of the judging panel said: “I wholeheartedly congratulate Simon in receiving this prize. We were thoroughly impressed by the diverse range of nominations, demonstrating the quality and high level of professionalism of alumni from City’s journalism programmes.
“Choosing one winner was difficult, but Simon’s contribution to the advancement of data journalism clearly places him at the forefront of his field and demonstrates the impact he is having on the future of journalism.”
Simon was awarded a special commendation from the Royal Statistical Society for excellence in journalism last year. He has travelled to many conferences around the world, giving talks on data journalism and encouraging discussion on the future of the industry.
He was the editor of the Guardian’s online news service and has also edited the newspaper’s science section. Furthermore, Simon edited two Guardian books: “How Slow Can You Waterski?” and “The Hutton Inquiry and Its impact”.
Simon completed City’s Newspaper Diploma in 1991.
Watch Simon’s exclusive acceptance speech here
There will be an extended interview with Simon in XCity magazine, out April 2011.