28 City graduates longlisted for 2015 XCity Award

Here are the nominations for XCity’s Award for outstanding journalism by a City alumni.

From uncovering the HSBC scandal to an inside look at the Yemen crisis, this year’s nominees for the £500 XCity Award for outstanding journalism by a City alumni have all made an impact in the past year.

Members of staff in the journalism department and other alumni nominated the 28 longlisted candidates, who have all participated in some of last year’s most exciting journalism. Among the achievements of the nominees are a social media campaign to save animals, an investigation into modern day slavery, and a YouTube video diary series on the Scottish Referendum.

The XCity Award was established in 2011 to mark the 25^th anniversary of XCity Magazine. The award and cash prize honours outstanding contributions to journalism by City alumni. Past winners include The Guardian’s James Ball for his data journalism work on the Snowden files and The Times’ Kaya Burgess for his safe cycling campaign.

A shortlist of five candidates will be announced in the next week. An interview with each shortlisted nominee will be featured on XCity+, so stay tuned.

In no particular order, the 28 longlisted nominees for the 2015 XCity Award are as follows:

Ryan Ramgobin and Adam Barr (Broadcast, 2014)

Currently: Getting ready to launch Zbeckabee – an online grassroots journalism platform.

YouTube channel ‘Referendum Boys’ on the Scottish Referendum. They jointly won the 2015 Hugh Cudlipp award for the video diary series.

Emily Drew (Erasmus Mundus Business and Finance, 2008)

Currently: Producer and reporter at MSNBC in New York.

Helped launch Al Jazeera America in New York and US operations of China Central Television in Beijing.

Alison Millington (International, 2014)

Currently: Reporter at Marketing Week.

Took initiative to try and launch final project as a real magazine.

Anushka Asthana (Magazine, 2003)

Currently: Sky News political correspondent.

Coverage of the upcoming election issues, especially the immigration debate.

Hannah King (Science, 2010)

Currently: Reporter at British Forces News

Series of film documentaries commissioned by the British Forces on its historical and current day activities.

Sarah Rainey (Newspaper, 2010)

Currently: Features writer, The Telegraph.

Writes engaging features on topics like an inside look into the world of anorexia bloggers.

Sebastian Payne (Investigative, 2011)

Currently: Managing editor at The Spectator.

Won prestigious Laurence Stern Fellowship and worked on national news desk at the Washington Post for three months as a prize.

Stephen Morse (Erasmus Mundus Finance, 2011)

Currently: Co-founder of SkillBridge.

Created and produced Exponential, a fortnightly business magazine.

**James Ball* (Magazine, 2008)**

Currently: Special projects editor at The Guardian.

Helped uncover the HSBC scandal. Won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the Snowden files.

*As a former winner, James cannot be shortlisted for the award.

Theresa Taylor (Science, 2013)

Currently: Reporter for The Star in South Africa.

Strong coverage of the Oscar Pistorius trial.

Beth Ashton (Interactive, 2013)

Currently: Social media editor at the Manchester Evening News.

Won an audience engagement award for her social media work for the Trinity Mirror. She raised £1m in 24 hours through her social media campaign after a fire at a dog shelter.

Shehnaz Khan (Broadcast, 2014)

Currently: Co-founder/CEO of KJK Entertainment; blogger for the Huffington Post and Yahoo!

Rising star at Yahoo!

Rochelle Toplensky (Financial, 2014)

Currently: Columnist at the Financial Times.

Writes the influential ‘Lex’ column for the FT.

Rob Grant (Interactive, 2013)

Currently: Data journalist at the Trinity Mirror.

Won award for data journalism work for the Trinity Mirror.

Tom Warren (Investigative, 2013)

Currently: Reporter at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Named New Journalist of the Year at 2014 British Journalism Awards for investigations into payday loans, the Royal Mail sale and political funding. Was also a finalist for Politics Journalist of the Year.

Fay Schlesinger (Newspaper, 2008)

Currently: Home editor of The Times.

Has taken on a huge role relatively early in her career.

Jon Sindeau (Financial, 2014)

Currently: Economic reporter at the European bureau of The Wall Street Journal.

Coverage of the Euro crisis.

George Arbuthnott (Investigative, 2009)

Currently: Reporter at the Sunday Times.

Won ‘Campaign of the Year’ at the Press Gazette’s British Journalism Awards for his coverage of modern day slavery in the Sunday Times. Won Human Trafficking Foundation Award for best articles on sex and child trafficking. Made the shortlist for the Amnesty International Gaby Rado Memorial Award.