Inside Housing reporter wins XCity Award for Grenfell investigations Sophie Barnes’ work on fire safety earns £500 prize, writes Alexandra Twohey
CREDITS: TOP INSIDE HOUSING | L TO R CONVILLE AND WALSH, TWITTER, JOANNA BONGARD, BUREAU LOCAL
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hen Britain woke up to images of Grenfell Tower ablaze on the morning of 14 June 2017, most journalists and observers alike reacted with shock. The same cannot be said of Sophie Barnes, who had spent months warning of poor fire safety at tower blocks across the country. Barnes (Investigative, 2012) has won the 2018 XCity Award for her reporting before and after the Grenfell Tower disaster, as well as investigations into welfare reforms and the effects of the benefit cap on vulnerable families seeking housing. The deputy news editor of Inside Housing beat 15 other nominees to win the award and its £500 prize, which honours an alumnus who has made an outstanding contribution to journalism over the past year. Inside Housing had been following government fire safety regulations since 2009, when a fire broke out at Lakanal House in south London, killing six people. Prior to Grenfell, Barnes spoke to experts who told her a similar fire could easily happen again because the
enjoyed my time at City and some brilliant journalists have come out of it, so it’s really nice to be recognised by current students and people who are going to be journalists in the future.” The award is not Barnes’ only honour. In the past year, she won Housing/ Residential Journalist of the Year and was shortlisted for News Reporter of the Year at the International Building Press Awards in November. She was also part
type of cladding being used was not safe. Barnes said of her investigations: “The government said confidently between 2013 [when the Lakanal coroner’s report was published] and 2017, ‘Yes, we’re going to be looking at reviewing these regulations,’ but they never actually did – it kept being put off, and then Grenfell happened.” Speaking of winning the XCity Award, Barnes said: “It’s a real honour. I really
of the team at Inside Housing which beat competition from the national press to win News Provider of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in December. After the Grenfell fire, Barnes acquired around 600 fire safety reports on tower blocks across the country via FoI requests to local councils. Her research uncovered widespread concerns, including that inexperienced council employees were being allowed to carry out crucial fire assessments. “There’s no legal requirement for someone to have any particular skills or expertise to do a fire assessment,” explained Barnes. “It means that very complex buildings like tower blocks can easily be assessed by people who have no experience whatsoever in doing these kinds of tests.” Professor Suzanne Franks, head of journalism at City, said of Barnes’ success: “Sophie made an outstanding contribution to one of the most important issues of the year. She’s produced brilliant, sustained work and is definitely a worthy winner of the award.”
The best of the rest: XCity Award Shortlist Ramita Navai Broadcast, 2003
Kaine Pieri International, 2017
Dolly Alderton Magazine, 2010
Megan Lucero International, 2011
Broadcaster Ramita Navai was shortlisted for her reporting on Channel 4’s Dispatches for “ISIS and the Battle for Iraq”, which won her the Foreign Affairs Journalism award at the British Journalism Awards 2017.
Kaine Pieri was shortlisted for his footage of the June 2017 London Bridge terror attacks. Pieri was still at City when he won the Eric Robbins Prize for his video, which was picked up by international news agencies.
Award-winning journalist and author Dolly Alderton was shortlisted for her podcast, The High Low, and her memoir Everything I Know About Love, which was was on The Sunday Times’ Top Five Bestsellers list.
Megan Lucero was shortlisted for her work heading a division of the Bureau of Investigative Journlaism, which uses data journalism to help journalists with investigations in local communities across the UK.
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