“Award-winning travel journalist”
When I am asked to write a brief biography of myself for contributors’ pages in magazines, I will often bill myself as an “award-winning” travel journalist”.
And this is true, because way back in 2001, I was named Student Travel Writer of the Year in the Guardian Student Media Awards. Yes, it’s an utter irrelevance, but “award-winning” sounds good, doesn’t it? I’ve not bothered entering for another awards ceremony since, though – partly because I’m lazy and partly because the whole garland-giving thing can be a bit ridiculous.
Travel industry awards with a dubious stench
In truth, many travel industry awards have a really dubious stench about them. In this regard, the Guardian Student Media Awards are relatively squeaky clean, as they’re voted for by detached judges. But a lot of the time, awards are an exercise in intra-industry backslapping.
Who hands out awards?
Any traveller taken in by medals and trinkets a hotel or restaurant has been given should take a long hard look at who gave the award. If somewhere has been named best hotel, then great. But has it been named Best Hotel by the local hotels association? A local hotels association in which the hotel manager in question takes a particularly active role, perchance?
Advertisers and freebies
Or maybe the award has been given out by a magazine with which the hotel just so happens to be a major advertiser. I may sound cynical, but I do know how it works – I once worked for a publication where the annual ‘best of’ awards was merely an excuse to get free meals and a generous bar tab.
This is particularly true of any award given out by a local radio station. Take them with a pinch of salt and a determination to discover just how many free cocktails were given away.
Kingley Event Management Travel Press Awards
And with this in mind, I come to the Kingley Event Management Travel Press Awards. The shortlist for each category has been announced, and there are some fine candidates in all. Of course, it’d be possible to argue the toss on specific names, but it would be churlish to say that the shortlisted names and publications are not professional and worthy of their place.
Nominees…
Just one thing stands out, however. Amongst the nominees are Simon Calder (Travel Broadcast Journalist of the Year), Frank Barrett and Graham Boynton (both Outstanding Contribution). All three are excellent journalists, and no-one can have any real quibbles about them being there on merit.
… And judging panel
But a quick look at the judging panel makes for an interesting read. Amongst the judges are… Simon Calder, Frank Barrett and Graham Boynton. Hmmmmm…
Disclosure: I have written for two of the candidates in the Kingley Travel Press Awards in the past year (MSN UK and the Telegraph).
Tags: awards, hotels, restaurants, travel media, Travel Writing
That’s hilarious! I can’t believe they’d do that… what’s the prize?
Hi David
Very funny but completely untrue! The main judging panel judged the writer and broadcast awards and I think it’s absolutely correct that writers are on the judging panel.
The outstanding contribution category was judged separately.
warm wishes
Debbie Hindle
Lol, thanks for uncovering this. It sounds unbeliavable they would do this.
Thanks for your comment Debbie. Not quite sure what you mean by ‘completely untrue’. All I’ve pointed out is that three of the nominees for these awards are also on the judging panel as listed on the awards website. That’s indisputably true.
I’m not suggesting that anyone voted for themselves, merely that integrity is perhaps compromised when some of the nominees are also on the judging panel – irrespective of who is judging which category.
As I’ve said; the nominees for all categories are stong professionals and it’s hard to have any quibble with them being there on merit. I also agree top writers should be on a judging panel for such awards.
What is debatable is whether those writers who are on the judging panel (‘main’ panel or otherwise – no distinction is made on the website) should be eligible to receive the awards. There are arguments for and against, both equally valid.
excellent work david. i’ll forward it to my pal frank B who i’m sure will find it funny too. i don’t think many readers are taken in by travel-writing awards but their role nowadays seems to be in persuading contract-publishing editors, like the excellent JH above, to use you because they can make you sound good in the contributors list/flannel panel and to demonstrate to the client that only the finest writers have been employed. it’s usually a load of bollocks as you say, in fact i thought you were rather polite and restrained. oh and it’s not just outside travel industry people who are to blame – the guild of travel writers are the worst of the lot, giving each other enormous numbers of awards. i’m sure they somehow take it in turns to be travelwriter of the year.
Ha. Well spotted, nice piece. (Not just in travel this, though. IIRC someone spotted something similar at the ‘Editorial Intelligence’ comment awards a couple of months back.)
I’m another who often describes himself as an ‘award-winning travel journalist’, largely out of shock that I actually won anything, but also like you say because people seem to like it. I’d defend mine as bona fide, too. I didn’t enter the competition myself (my publisher did it), I’d never met the judges, nor did I go and pick up the award at the gala dinner. (My publisher again… and he’s a nice guy and was very pleased about it, so it was a win all round.) There was no advantage to them in giving *me* the award, so I guess they must really have thought it was the best book. Which is nice.
But, yes, “take ‘award-winning’ with a pinch of salt” would be sound advice.
Off at a tangent… Didn’t Dick Cheney get hired by Dubya to look into who the best candidate was to serve as VP/running mate… then decide it was Dick Cheney?
As someone who was the New Zealand Tourist Board and Air New Zealand travel writer of the year in 2002 (or was it 03?)for my articles on New Zealand (there were six of them in the year so I obviously wore them down with shear weight)I fail to see what you mean by awards with a dubious stench!
@James. I don’t suppose your trip to New Zealand was hosted by the New Zealand Tourist Board and Air New Zealand, was it?
> New Zealand Tourist Board and Air New Zealand travel writer of the year in 2002
I’m actually quite impressed by that. Seriously. Maybe I’m just naive. I kinda like awards, even if almost all of them go to other people.
I know it’s a few years late, but… congratulations.
Replying to the comment about the Guild of Travel Writer awards – these are judged anonymously by non-Guild members. No Guild member is involved in the judging and only three Guild members (myself as Chair, the Members’ Awards coordinator, Anthony Lambert and our dinner organiser, Sue Bryant) know the results before they are announced at our Awards Dinner. Our members include 270 travel writers who also win many of the other awards – we have some extremely fine writers amongst them. We choose to have awards for our members rather than those who don’t pay our membership subscriptions – professional travel writers are welcome to join. We have recently announced our first award open to all first time travel writers currently running. Melissa Shales BGTW Chairman