Vanessa Beeley reporting in Homs Province, Syria (Image: P.J. Henningsen 2017)
This latest announcement should be regarded as a real breakthrough for independent journalists.
Yesterday, Britain’s National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) named 21st Century Wire Associate Editor Vanessa Beeley as one of the Top 238 Most Respected Journalists in the UK.
According to the NCTJ, this year’s awardees were nominated by other professional journalists who picked “who they most respect in the media,” and “most embodies the values of journalism that they respect and adhere to,” as part of the NCTJ’s Journalists at Work 2018 survey.
The organization remarked that this year’s list is one of the most diverse in history, including many well-known names from mainstream broadcasters and newspapers, but also a number of reporters from local press and independent publications. As far as those surveyed, this suggests a clear trend in favor of media pluralism over a monopoly ideas from large corporate entities, as the NCTJ remarked:
“An outcome where one or two individuals wholly dominated the voting might have indicated the opposite: that such qualities are admirable but rare […] This suggests to me that values-based journalism is thriving in these turbulent times.”
The journalist who received the most nominations will be announced as the organization’s patron next week, said the organization.
It is honor for 21st Century Wire to see Vanessa, one of the industry’s most courageous and dedicated contributors, recognized by her peers. Over the last few years her work in Syria has been compendious, and especially with her comprehensive exposé of the western-backed NGO construct known as the White Helmets. This recognition by the NCTJ is even more befitting considering that she, along with this website and others like it, have come under direct fire from large corporate outlets like the The Guardian, Times of London, BBC and The Huffington Post, who have repeatedly attacked and tried to discredit Vanessa’s reporting, which we believe is part of a concerted campaign to harass and silence any independent reporting on Syria which does not tow the prescribed US, UK, NATO political line. What this peer survey shows more than anything is that despite the mainstream media’s efforts to marginalize and suppress alternative voices, Vanessa’s work and reputation stands on firm ground – and it will continue to do so long into the future. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for much of the aforementioned mainstream outlets’ reporting on Syria over the last seven years.
Here is a partial clip of the NCTJ List:
See the full list of 238 UK journalists here.
Interestingly, Vanessa Beeley was the only person on the NCTJ’s entire roster of 238 individuals who was listed as a “Blogger,” while others listed with their main publication, or as “Freelance,” or “Author & journalist.” It is not clear why she was the only person listed in this way. Nonetheless, we applaud the NCTJ for its inclusive approach in allowing for the recognition of a broad spectrum dedicated journalists in the field.
Visit our archive of Vanessa Beeley’s work here.
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