Alan Rusbridger

There are few people in the UK who can claim to understand the media, free speech and the role of journalism better than Alan Rusbridger.

The Pulitzer prize-winning former editor of The Guardian – and now columnist for The Independent – writes brilliantly and provocatively on the state of the media, the climate crisis and the wider political landscape, delving behind the headlines to zero in on some of the most important issues of the day.

In the immediate aftermath of the shocking attacks in Southport, Alan immediately targeted his column on Elon Musk, almost a week before the owner of X made the story personal between him and Keir Starmer.

As Alan wrote: “He may draw the line at illegal speech – if only because assorted law enforcement and regulatory authorities would have him – but otherwise, on X, anything goes. It can be hateful, inflammatory, racist and/or plain untrue, and he couldn’t care less… “I don’t think he knows, or cares, that hundreds of rioters converged on a mosque in Southport on Tuesday night, injuring dozens of police officers. If you’re a free-speech absolutist, the consequences of what you allow on your platform are someone else’s problem.”

Alan has written passionately about GB News and called for tougher regulation on such a clearly politicised television news channel, with excoriating pieces on characters such as Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox. In a very well-read piece, Alan looked at Britain’s biggest conspiracy theorist cleric – who had also been given a show on GB News. Alan has also written widely on topics from the royal family in the wake of the cancer diagnoses for the King and Princess of Wales, to the sentences threatened and handed out to climate protesters.

His columns are designed to provoke debate – and we hope the judges will recognise his work.