This year’s winner was The Guardian’s Nick Davies, who also won an award in the Print & Web category, for his investigative story into The News of the World’s phone hacking scandal that ultimately led to the downfall of the British tabloid newspaper.

Nick Davies’ story on the scandal saw the British media ‘become the news’, prompting intense scrutiny of, and debate about, the industry’s practices.

Davies is also well-known for his work on the WikiLeaks scandal, in which he documented the biggest leak in intelligence history of confidential government information.

The lavish gathering of UK and international journalists took place at The Park Lane Hotel in central London, with leading British television and radio personality Sandi Toksvig compere for the night. 

Qatar Airways hosted select media during the night, which attracted 350 guests, including Ambassadors, politicians and business leaders to celebrate excellence in international television, print, broadcast and web-based journalism.

Journalists in 13 categories were honoured during the awards, now in its 12th year. Guest speakers Johannes Huth, Managing Director of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and Professor Yanis Varoufakis, Professor of Economic Theory and Director of the Department of Political Economy from Athens University, offered two different expert perspectives on the Eurozone crisis.  

Qatar Airways Country Manager UK and Ireland, Richard Oliver presented the main award of the night – Journalist of the Year – to Nick Davies.

In line with the airline’s generosity, Oliver also presented Davies with a round-trip Business Class ticket from the UK to anywhere on Qatar Airways’ global network of over 100 destinations. 

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 102 aircraft from its Doha hub to 109 key business and leisure cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America.