The MJA Awards:

Celebrating excellence in health journalism

Watch as Hannah Barnes in the headline award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2024 MJA Awards

The annual MJA Awards  recognise and reward outstanding examples of health and medical journalism. Each year we review awards categories to ensure they reflect both the diversity of our membership and the media in which we work.

These include awards for news and features for general, specialist and broadcast outlets, as well as prizes for newcomers, freelancers and podcasters. We also highlight specific subjects with awards for Mental Health Story of the Year, Science Explained and the David Delvin prize for sex and sexual health journalism.

Exceptional contribution

Occasionally we recognise an exceptional contribution to communicating health and medicine with a lifetime achievement award.  These awards are decided by vote of our Executive Committee (EC), although any MJA member can put forward proposed candidates to the EC.  Previous recipients include Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, Dr Oliver Gillie, Dr Jonathan Miller and Claire Rayner.

Celebrate all of the 2024 MJA Award winners

Catch up with images from the 2024 MJA Awards

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Thank you to our 2024 sponsors.

 
 

MJA Awards 2024: Winners announced September 11, 2024MJA Awards 2024: Finalists announced August 12, 2024 MJA Awards 2024: With thanks to the judgesMJA Awards 2024: Now closed to entry MJA Awards Sponsorship Opportunities

Lifetime Achievement Award:

Roll of honour

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter for transforming the public’s understanding of risk and assisting journalists in communicating risk to their audiences with accuracy and clarity

Oliver GillieDr Oliver Gillie for his lifelong commitment to the advancement of communication in science and medicine and in particular in the area of Vitamin D.

Claire Rayner (OBE), the nurse, journalist, broadcaster, agony aunt and health campaigner whose last words were: “Tell David Cameron that if he screws up my beloved NHS I’ll come back and bloody haunt him.”

jonathan millerProfessor Jonathan Miller, the doctor, celebrated writer, broadcaster, and theatre and opera director.

Ronnie Bedford (OBE) a founder member of the MJA and legendary science reporter for the Daily Mirror who once famously asked NASA officials ‘Will the astronauts be carrying cyanide kits to the moon?’

Dr Michael O’Donnell, a physician, journalist, author, broadcaster and GMC ‘rebel’ and reformer, who presented television programmes including Is Your Brain Really Necessary and edited the ground-breaking magazine World Medicine.

Dr David Delvin, an award-winning physician, journalist, author and broadcaster who has written 27 books and appeared on more than 800 radio and TV programmes.

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