Malak A Tantesh, the Guardian's former Gaza correspondent, has been named new journalist of the year at the British Journalism Awards. She also received the Marie Colvin award for outstanding up-and-coming journalists at a ceremony on Thursday night, where she was given a standing ovation.
Tantesh reported from Gaza for 18 months, covering the impact of the war on Palestinians. Her work included describing her own family's return to Beit Lahia after a ceasefire, only to find their home destroyed, and the plight of 'skeletal children' in a Gaza hospital.
The judges praised Tantesh's 'bravery, empathy with her subjects, and fighting against the odds to get the story'. They noted that her reports provided 'vital coverage of a war most journalists were banned from witnessing', while she faced deprivation, bomb risks, and threats of targeted attack.
Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said: 'At the Guardian we are delighted to see Malak's brave and impactful reporting, which has been conducted in the most difficult of circumstances, recognised by the judges in this way. She has an exciting future ahead of her.'
The Guardian also won the health and life sciences journalism category for a collaborative investigation with Hope Not Hate into embryo IQ screening, exposing a network of 'race science' activists secretly funded by a US tech entrepreneur. Harry Davies was recognised in the technology category for examining Microsoft's ties with the Israeli military during the Gaza war.
