First wave of judges for the 2026 Amnesty Media Awards revealed  

Comedian Jen Brister announced as host 

“The world is a scary place right now and we need high-quality, fearless journalism more than ever” - Jen Brister 

Closing date for entries is Friday 30 January 2026  

Enter the awards: https://amnesty-media-awards.org.uk/ 

Amnesty International is pleased to announce comedian, actor, writer and activist, Jen Brister as the host for the Amnesty Media Awards 2026 award ceremony. 

The ceremony will take place at the BFI Southbank on Wednesday 6 May 2026, where the winners will be revealed.  

The Amnesty International Media Awards celebrate excellence in human rights journalism, with each of the 10 categories judged by a panel of prestigious journalists and media workers.   

Confirmed judges for the 2026 awards include: Ayshah Tull (Channel 4),  Thaslima Begum (The Guardian), Deborah Frances-White (Guilty Feminist Podcast), Catherine Philp (The Times), Stuart Ramsay (Sky News), Fergal Keane (BBC), Jolyon Rubinstein, Kwajo Tweneboa, Ben DePear (Basement Films), Lindsey Hilsum (Channel 4) and Alex Crawford (Sky News). The full line-up of judges will be announced later in January. 

The closing date for entries is Friday 30th January 2026. 

Entries must be from a media outlet based in the UK, or an international outlet with a UK bureau, and published or broadcast for the first time in the UK between 1 January and 31 December 2025 and can be submitted at: https://amnesty-media-awards.org.uk/ 

A list of previous winners can be found here and the line-up of confirmed judges can be found below. 

Jen Brister said: 

“I’m honoured to host this year’s Amnesty International UK Media Awards. The world is a scary place right now and we need high-quality, fearless journalism more than ever.  

“Speaking truth to power has never been more important. We all owe a huge amount to the journalists willing to take risks to shine a light on human rights violations and challenge those abusing their power.   

“Coming together for a night to celebrate media workers’ tireless work is the perfect way to inspire hope in a what looks to be another challenging year that lies before us. We must resist the doom and gloom: as Amnesty says, ‘better to light a candle than curse the darkness’.” 

List of confirmed judges 

Roland Oliphant (Daily Telegraph), Nadine White, Catherine Philp (The Times), Basia Cummings (The Observer), Tobias Buck (Financial Times), Ayshah Tull (Channel 4), Tessa Chapman (Channel 5), Stuart Ramsay (Sky News), Fergal Keane (BBC), Jolyon Rubinstein, Kwajo Tweneboa, Sirin Kale (The Guardian), Bridget Harrison (The Times), Ros Wynne Jones (Daily Mirror), Christina Marker (Sky News), Ben De Pear (Basement Films), Caroline Hawley (BBC), Tom Giles (ITV), Nina Manwaring (BBC Radio 4), Thaslima Begum (The Guardian), Chal Ravens (Novara Media), Deborah Frances-White (Guilty Feminist), Paul Murphy (Financial Times), Lindsey Hilsum (Channel 4), Franz Wild (TBIJ), Daniel Howden (Lighthouse Reports), Alex Crawford (Sky News), Joanna Potts (Channel 4), Katie Mark (TBIJ), Sarah Lester (Manchester Evening News), Catherine Salmond (Glasgow Herald), Tony Curry (ITV), Karin Andersson (The Guardian), Josh Lustig (FT Weekend), Kiana Hayeri, Johnny Goldsmith (Daily Mirror), Louis Rado, Linda Ngari (BBC), Antonia Cundy (Financial Times), Sophie Neiman (New Internationalist), Lindsay Taylor.