ITV's Mark Austin wins Royal Television Society award
- Published
Mark Austin was nominated alongside ITV's Julie Etchingham and BBC Two Newsnight's Emily Maitlis
ITV News at Ten host Mark Austin has been named the UK's best national TV news presenter for the second year in a row by the Royal Television Society.
Austin was described as "second to none" by the judges at Wednesday's ceremony in London.
ITV News at Ten was also named daily news programme of the year, while Sky News won news channel of the year.
The BBC's coverage of a police raid on Sir Cliff Richard's home missed out on the award for scoop of the year.
The coverage of the raid last August sparked complaints from the pop veteran, South Yorkshire Police and hundreds of viewers.
That story lost out in the scoop category to BBC Northern Ireland's current affairs programme Spotlight for its story about a rape victim who said the IRA covered up sexual abuse.
"At the heart of it was one woman waiving her right to anonymity to do what virtually no republican ever does on camera, speak out against the IRA," the judges said.
The BBC's Alison Holt was rewarded for covering stories including elderly care and child sexual exploitation
In other categories, Channel 4's Matt Frei won television journalist of the year for combining "remarkable frontline reporting with fine writing and a real sense of humanity".
BBC social affairs correspondent Alison Holt was named specialist journalist of the year for delivering "stories which were agenda-setting, policy shifting and politically important".
ITV won the prizes for both home and international news coverage.
ITV's News at Ten was described as "extraordinarily strong" by the jury.
It said it had "exemplary foreign coverage, a range of reporters - in turns heavyweight, warm, literate, likeable but above all trustworthy, and always well told".
Mark Austin, one of its main hosts, was singled out for coverage including his anchoring from the Middle East and a "powerful and sensitive" interview with Bob Geldof.
"In the field and in the studio, the winner is second to none and deserves to retain his title," the judges said.
ITV's Julie Etchingham and BBC Two Newsnight's Emily Maitlis had also been nominated for the network presenter of the year award.
The winners:
Daily news programme of the year: ITV News at Ten
News channel of the year: Sky News
Network presenter of the year: Mark Austin, ITV News at Ten
Television journalist of the year: Matt Frei, Channel 4 News
Specialist journalist of the year: Alison Holt, BBC News
Scoop of the year: Spotlight - A Woman Alone With The IRA, BBC Northern Ireland
News coverage - home: Jihadi Terror, ITV News
News coverage - international: Ukraine, ITV News
Current affairs - home: Panorama - Britain's Secret Terror Force, BBC One
Current affairs - international: Dispatches - Children on the Frontline, Channel 4
Regional presenter of the year: Harry Gration, BBC Look North
Nations and regions news: BBC South East Today
Nations and regions current affairs: Who Murdered Maxine?, BBC West Midlands
Judges' award: Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed
Lifetime achievement award: Lawrence McGinty
Camera operator of the year: Andriy Perun, Reuters
News technology: A Cloud over Copacabana - BBC's World Cup Data Network, BBC News
Young talent of the year: Mstyslav Chernov, APTN
The independent award: Bruce Lee, King of the Sewers, Channel 4 News
- Published18 February 2015
- Published20 February 2014
