BASW Social Work Journalism Award Finalists Announced!

The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards aim to celebrate creative, informed and sensitive reporting that demonstrates an outstanding understanding of the social work profession.

The initiative is part of wider efforts by BASW and the Social Workers Union (SWU) to improve public perception, profile and understanding of an often misunderstood and misrepresented profession.

Entries and nominations were sought from social workers, journalists and members of the public for eight categories covering mainstream print and broadcast, trade journalism, podcasts, TV/radio and lived experience.

The judging panel includes leading social workers and journalists with knowledge of the sector. The winners will be announced at BASW UK Conference in Edinburgh on the evening of 18 June 2024. 

Broadcast National

• How can we meet changing care needs of people with learning disabilities? Channel 4 News, by Ruben Reuter
• Joe Swash: Teens in care. BBC One
• No place to call home. BBC Radio 4, File On 4 

Regional Broadcast

• Covid lockdown was a ‘gift’ to child abusers like Finley Boden’s parents, campaigners say. ITV Central News, by Phil Brewster
• More than 4,000 children on waiting lists for social care help with many waiting over a year UTV Northern Ireland
• Spotlight news featuring Luke and Adopt South West’s Amanda, for National Adoption Week BBC South West

Written Journalism National

• 24 hours as a social worker: crippling anxiety, too many cases and unpaid hours The I, by Kia-Elise Green
• ‘I want to improve things for people’: seven social workers reveal why it’s such a rewarding career The Guardian, by Debbie Andalo
• Surge in children needing care in wake of pandemic as councils drastically overspend budgets to cope The Independent, by Holly Bancroft

Regional Written

• 'Staffing crisis' in Northern Irish social work amid call for 'significant change' Belfast Live
• Highland Council warn of ‘critical to catastrophic risk’ as 4 in 10 child social worker jobs sit vacant The Press and Journal (Northern and Scottish Highlands), by Stuart Findlay 
• The innocent children who think they’re in love Manchester Evening News, by Paul Britton 

Trade Press

• Councils turn to ‘golden hellos' to solve social worker shortage Children & Young People Now, by Fiona Simpson
• Inside a social work strike: the staff fighting for a ‘safe service Community Care, by Anastasia Koutsounia 
• ‘Something bad will happen’: how social care cuts hit exclusions Times Education Supplement, by Dan Worth

Lived Experience

• Kids Channel 4
• Messy Fostering BBC Radio 4
• We're not bad mums Community Care together with: Learning from the lived experience of mothers in rehab

Drama

• Best Interests BBC1 - Episode 3. A family faces a choice no parent wants to make. When your child is desperately ill, who decides what happens next? Episode 3 features the character ‘Greg’, an independent social worker (played by Mat Fraser) who has a disability.  
• Beyond Paradise BBC1 - Series 2: Episode 2. A feel good drama series about a police detective and his wife based in a Devon seaside town. There is a storyline about them wanting to become foster parents after having tried unsuccessfully to have their own child. They have early meetings with their social worker who chats to them separately about the fostering process. 
• Call the Midwife BBC1 - Episode 6, Series 14. Story involving newly qualified social worker Cyril – case of two abandoned children and their pregnant mother who has also suffered domestic abuse. 

Podcasts

• The Helpful Social Work Podcast Empowering ourselves
• The Social Work Community Podcast Racism in social work – Community Care
• The Social Worker and the Mentor Episode 47 – The working conditions of social workers- to strike or not to strike