Did you excel as freelancer in 2024?

Entry guide: Freelance Journalist of the Year

Jan 06, 2025

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The trophy for Freelance Journalist of the Year will be awarded to the freelance journalist who best covered finance-related issues in 2024.

Entering is a great way to raise your profile and highlight your achievements.

Judges will be looking for evidence that you were the best financial freelance journalist in 2024

Did you pitch fresh and original ideas to editors? Were you able to successfully adapt your writing for a range of audiences and titles? Did you consistently cover issues important to readers?

Entries will close at 11pm on Friday 7 February 2025 for the journalist categories. Please note, for the 2025 awards, entries will NOT be accepted after the entry deadline due to a limited judging time frame.

You'll need to submit:

A short supporting statement (maximum 300 words) explaining why you should be considered for this award and why your submission deserves to win.
Three attachments of your work, features, articles, investigations, etc, showcasing your skill as a freelance financial journalist.
A headshot of yourself for use in relevant Awards collateral and on the night at the Headlinemoney Awards ceremony.

Judges refer extensively to supporting statements during their deliberations, so be sure to include:

Pieces that show a selection of titles you have written for or stories on a variety of topics, to show your range.
A clear explanation of where your pieces were published and any useful background/context for each.
Relevant info so judges can see the impact of your stories/features/blogs, other editorial items of interest.
Any positive outcomes from your submissions, e.g. help for readers/consumers/industry, debate in Parliament, change in the law, a review into the way things are done, etc.
Evidence of your dedication, professionalism and reputation for efficiency.

When looking at your three examples of work, judges are likely to consider:

Is your copy well-written, accurate and useful for the audience concerned?
Are your submissions fresh and original? Do they explore new angles or provide new warnings?
Do they contain exclusive or hard-hitting investigative work? Or comprehensive/informative surveys?
Are your submissions campaigning and/or include a call-to-action?
Did you make accurate predictions/forecasts?
Did your submissions produce a positive result? For example, prompt a change in the law, a review into the way things are done, etc?
Where relevant, do they contain sensible tips for readers, further steps, etc?
Do your submissions make good use of aids such as tables, graphs, break-out boxes, case studies, etc?

Past winners:

2024 Hannah Smith
2023 Marc Shoffman
2022 Marc Shoffman
2021 Marc Shoffman
2020 Laura Whateley
2019 Felicity Hannah
2018 Felicity Hannah

Hall of Fame - All journalist winners

Shortlisting, judging & winners

Entries submitted by journalists across all categories will initially be shortlisted by a panel of judges and announced in April 2025.

After shortlisting, the final and all-important judging phase to decide all the category winners will take place. Judging panels include over a hundred judges comprising senior financial journalists, editors and PRs drawn from around the UK’s financial media.

Widely acknowledged as the biggest night of the year for the UK’s money media, the industry will come together on Wednesday 16 July 2025, where the winners will be revealed at The Brewery in London, at the Headlinemoney Awards 2025.

Good luck and we look forward to receiving your entries!

Contacts

Event enquiries
Vicky Finch
vicky.finch@emap.com

Entry enquiries
Claire Beard
claire.desilva@headlinemoney.co.uk

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Editorial contacts

Claire Beard, Head of Content & Strategy
Working hours 9.30am - 3pm, Monday - Friday
claire.desilva@headlinemoney.co.uk
07714 660 846

Hanita Patel, Content Manager
hanita.patel@headlinemoney.co.uk

PR membership/subscription contact

Martin Quinn, Head of Group Sales
martin.quinn@headlinemoney.co.uk
020 8075 8155 / 07944 043556

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