We are pleased to announce this year’s Statistical Excellence in Journalism Award winners. Now in their 19th year, the awards are kindly sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Awards were presented at a ceremony at BMA House in London in four categories: ‘explaining the facts’, ‘data visualisation’, ‘investigative journalism’ and ‘best statistical commentary by a non-journalist’.
Scott Heald, RSS Vice-President for External Affairs and chair of the awards, said: ‘This year’s entries make for fascinating reading, and I think truly showcase the vital role that statistics and data play in the big issues of the day. Congratulations to our winners on their outstanding work.’
Beccy Shipman, ESRC Deputy Director of Data Strategy and Infrastructure, said: ‘ESRC is delighted to support these awards as they celebrate the power of communicating research and statistics in accessible and varied formats. As ESRC marks its 60th anniversary, we are reminded of our mission to deliver public benefit. A key step in delivering this is to broaden and deepen understanding of the important issues of our time, and this year’s entries and winners are hugely successful at achieving this.’
The 2025 winners are:
Best statistical commentary by a non-journalist
Winner: Saloni Dattani for Our World in Data - The rise in reported maternal mortality rates in the US is largely due to a change in measurement
Highly commended: Mark Thompson for Get Energy Savvy - Instant boiling water taps...transparent costs for the first time
Data visualisation
Winner: Oscar Ingham, Katie Riley, Chris Newell and Joe White for Tortoise Media – Peer Review
Highly commended: Rosamund Pearce, James Fransham, Dan Rosenheck, Evan Hensleigh, Bo Franklin and Matt McLean, Owen Winter for the Economist - Build a British voter
Explaining the facts
Winner: Robert Cuffe and Megan Riddell for BBC Verify - Official “total crime” stat leaves out crimes against women
Highly commended: Margaret McCartney for the British Medical Journal – Chris Hoy and cancer screening: is celebrity campaigning a bad way to make policy?
Highly commended: Ben van der Merwe for Sky News - Gaza conflict: Thousands remain unidentified as death toll reaches 40,000
Investigative journalism
Winner: Katharine Swindells for Inside Housing - How many toddlers and babies are living in temporary accommodation in the UK?
Highly commended: Matilda Davies for the Sunday Times - Every scary thing Meta knows about me - and you
Highly commended: Joely Santa Cruz and Tom Cheshire for Sky News – Rise in domestic abuse cases where no police action is taken
Congratulations also to the journalists who were shortlisted:
Alex Homer (BBC News)
Anjana Ahuja (Financial Times)
Christoph von Eichhorn, Sören Müller-Hansen, Julia Kraus, Oliver Schnuck (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Hermoine Taylor (Financial Times)
Jinshan Hong, Bhuma Shrivastava, Rachel Chang, Kristan Piroeva, Jaqueline Buchanan, Lucy Pelton (Bloomberg News/Airfinity)
Mariana Hallal, Sophie Robin, Olga Petrusewicz and George Ioakeimidis (The Telegraph)
Saywah Mahmood (Sky News)
Tobi Thomas (Guardian)