Dawn Connelly wins prestigious medical journalism award

Dawn Connelly (right) receiving her Medical Journalists’ Association award for data journalism from Rosemary Hennings on behalf of Galliard Healthcare Communications

Dawn Connelly, features editor at The Pharmaceutical Journal, won the Data Journalism Award at the Medical Journalists’ Association winter awards, held at BMA House in London on 5 February 2015. The prize was awarded for her graphic feature ‘A visual guide to the Ebola virus epidemic’, which charts epidemiological data of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa alongside an insight into the pathology of Ebola virus disease and a detailed illustration of the processes being targeted by drug and vaccine developers.

The judges said: “Excellent use of data to illustrate a much-covered topic in an engaging way … the presentation outclasses many larger publications’ efforts.” They also praised the “easy to read visual design, the imaginative use of colour” and the way it provided information of direct relevance to The Pharmaceutical Journal’s readers. Other finalists in the data journalism category were Kerri Smith (Nature), Sabilah Eboo (Raconteur) and Will Stahl Timmins (The BMJ).

Connelly said: “Data journalism — using visual representations to tell a story — is a really exciting area of journalism and it’s brilliant for The Pharmaceutical Journal to be recognised for our work, especially among such a talented group of finalists. Data journalism is proving popular with our readers, with infographics making up the three most viewed features in 2014.”

The Medical Journalists’ Association has more than 475 medical and health writers, broadcasters and editors as its members. Its mission is to promote excellence in journalism, encourage and support its membership and provide opportunities for networking, training and career development.

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Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ, 21 February 2015, Vol 294, No 7850;294(7850):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2015.20067816

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