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Lorcan Allen of the Irish Farmers Journal has been named as the Newsbrands Ireland 2020 Business Journalist of the Year.
Agribusiness editor Allen was shortlisted for his work on exposing the complex web of companies owned by beef baron Larry Goodman, and the deep divisions within the Kerry Co-op board.
In a three-part series on Larry Goodman, Allen and his colleagues Eoin Lowry and Hannah Quinn-Mulligan examined Goodman’s €4bn empire, with Allen travelling to Liechtenstein to delve deep into the intricate network of Goodman companies and accounts.
Allen’s regular reporting on Kerry board members’ unhappiness over the contentious leading milk price and ongoing negotiations between Kerry Co-op and Kerry Group over their future relationship also secured him the prestigious award.
Irish Farmers Journal editor Justin McCarthy said he was delighted that the judges recognised both the standard of editorial content and graphic design within the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Lorcan is a deserved winner of the Business Journalist of the Year award. Over the years he has demonstrated a unique ability to research, analyse and report on highly complex business matters that are of relevance to our readers.
“In congratulating Lorcan I would also like to acknowledge the wider team who were shortlisted across many other categories.”
Farmersjournal.ie was shortlisted for News website of the Year, while Philip Doyle, Picture Editor at the Irish Farmers Journal was shortlisted for Best Use of Video and Irish Country Living shortlisted for Newspaper Magazine of the Year.
And the 2020 Business Journalist of the Year is @LorcanAllen from @farmersjournal
Congratulations Lorcan! pic.twitter.com/1AcPogRZmS— NewsBrands Ireland (@newsbrandsirl) November 17, 2020
Lorcan Allen said he was really humbled to win the 2020 Business Journalist of the Year award.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my family and the amazing team here in the Irish Farmers Journal, who are a bit like a second family to me.
“I’d like to thank my editor Justin McCarthy and all my colleagues at the Irish Farmers Journal for their support. I think the award is recognition that the Irish Farmers Journal continues to support good journalism which can only help improve Ireland’s hugely important agriculture and food sector.”
Judging panel
The winner was chosen by a 29-strong judging panel chaired by Tim Vaughan from a strong shortlist that included Aaron Rogan from The Business Post; Vincent Boland of The Business Post, Michael O’Farrell of The Irish Mail on Sunday, Samantha McCaughren of the Sunday Independent and Colin Coyle of the Sunday Times.
Vincent Crowley, chairman of NewsBrands Ireland, offered his congratulations to the shortlisted and winning journalists this year.
“News publishers, journalists, and the entire editorial and production teams are to be commended for continuing to provide compelling news coverage despite the challenging working conditions created by Covid-19.”
Public appetite for quality news is on the increase again
“Public appetite for quality news is on the increase again and latest figures show that over 72% of Irish people read a newspaper or one of our member news sites every week. Our members digital subscriptions are on the rise and news sites are seeing record traffic. However, the business model is facing many challenges, including the outdated libel laws and the dominance of global tech giants in the monetisation of news publishers’ content. We look forward to engaging with the Future of Media Commissions to address these issues and secure the future of quality Irish journalism.”
Inspirational
Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, described the awards as a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all that we value in Irish journalism, breaking news, reporting on life changing events, sporting glories, elections, and the inspirational stories of resilience in this pandemic year.”
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