For the records: The 2013 Groan Award Winners

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TechnicalEphemera
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For the records: The 2013 Groan Award Winners

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The Groan awards honour the very best and the very worst of Guardian political journalism of the year. The winners in each of the categories are nominated and voted on by Fly The Nest members.

This years winners are as follows.

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1. The Golden Hammer Award for best political journalist / contributor

Awarded to the journalist / contributor who has produced the most consistently good analysis over the year. The contributor most likely to hit the nail on the head.

Polly Toynbee with 58 percent of the vote.

FTN felt that Polly provided consistently good output despite the usual troll fest she is subjected to BTL.

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2. The Red Thumb Award for the worst political journalist / contributor

Awarded to the journalist / contributor who has produced poor, inaccurate analysis or just plain clickbait. The contributor most likely to miss the nail completely.

Nicholas Watt with 83 percent of the vote.

FTN felt that Nicholas had enjoyed a truly awful year, having to print a retraction about his story on union funding as well as getting the Syria vote completely wrong only a very short time before the vote was called.

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3. Best Article

The single best political article published in the year.

Zoe Williams with 50 percent of the vote for the article

"This obsession with outsourcing public services has created a shadow state"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... adow-state

An honourable mention goes out to Harry Leslie Smith for two nominations for this award. However FTN felt that Zoe summed up the scandal that is Con Dem outsourcing brilliantly with this article.

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4. Worst Article

The single worst political article of the year.

Tim Adams with 59 percent of the vote for the article

"Mid Staffs whistleblower Julie Bailey: 'I don't go out here on my own any more'"

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... stleblower

FTN members nominated this article for Tim's lack of critical analysis of his subject matter, and an inability to ask even a single searching question.

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5. Best New Contributor

Awarded for the best new journalist / contributor appearing in the Guardian this year. Their output is considered by FTN members to have enhanced the papers reputation for serious journalism.

Jack Monroe Uncontested award.

FTN members felt that Jack was a breath of fresh air, particularly enjoying her reply to odious right wing hack Richard Littlejohn.

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6. Worst New Contributor

Awarded for the worst new journalist / contributor appearing in the Guardian this year. Their output is considered by FTN members to have been an embarrasment to a serious paper.

Chris Huhne Uncontested award.

FTN members were scathing of Huhne's contribution. His article blaming civil servants for a lack of trust in politics (talk about people in glass houses) and his slasher article on selfish pensioners (for daring to be old) were particular low lights.

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7. The Daily Mail Milibash Award

Awarded for the single worst example of gratuitous Daily Mail style character assasination of Ed Miliband.

Rowena Mason on a casting vote from the awards chair for the article

"Ed Miliband's leadership under further attack from senior Labour figures"

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... s#show-all

There was a lot of stiff competition for this award, with anonymous sources, and political non entities all dragged out to support the Guardian's month long Miliband hate fest in July/August. Rowena Mason's article just beat off the competition to be judged the very worst in its dodgy use of opinion polls and rumour / innuendo. Shame about the conference speech and the Syria vote that followed.

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8. The Golden Glover Award

Awarded for the most deluded sychophantic pro coalition propaganda tha seeks to warp reality to fit Con Dem La La Land.

Nicholas Watt by a single vote for this article.

Syria debate: David Cameron wins back momentum from Ed Miliband

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... d-miliband

According to Nick, David Cameron was at his vigorous, unbending and glossy best as he wiped the floor with Ed Miliband in the Syria debate before going on to win the vote 2 hours later. Oh hang on - he didn't win the vote did he. Which makes this article stunningly deluded. Well done Nick top work. Kudos to the Guardian for leaving Nick's humiliation up for all to see.

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9. The 1984 Post Truth Headline award

For the most misleading and grasping black is white headline.

Patrick Wintour Uncontested award, for this headline and this article.

Two Liberal Democrat MPs join Labour in voting against bedroom tax

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... x-defeated

Corrected - by adding the word Two - a full ten days after the original was published (what can you say) it is the Guardians coverage of the bedroom tax debate. Where they reported two lib dem MPs voting against the government (and the rest voting for the government) as "Lib Dem MPs join Labour in voting against bedroom tax"

The note at the bottom of the article says

"The headline and subheading on this article were amended on 22 November 2013, because the original headline, "Lib Dem MPs join Labour in voting against bedroom tax", perhaps overstated the Liberal Democrat rebellion in the House of Commons."

As Roger remarked you have to love the use of the word perhaps here.

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10. Best Cartoon

Awarded for the single best cartoon of the year.

Steve Bell with 43 percent of the vote for the following cartoon

"Steve Bell on Margaret Thatcher's death – cartoon"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ll-cartoon

Steve beat a host of excellent Martin Rowson efforts (who may have been a victim of our antiquated First Past the Post electoral system) to claim victory with a cartoon that sums up Thatcher perfectly.

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Congratulations to all of our winners, do try not to get too drunk at the lavish after awards party.
Release the Guardvarks.
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