Telegraph wins Website of the Year for second year in a row

The Telegraph has won Website of the Year for the second year running at the Press Awards.

Judges described the Telegraph’s website as an “outstanding product” that had utilised “excellent design” to tell the biggest stories of the year - such as the Lockdown Files, the Coronation and the war in Ukraine - “in an imaginative and innovative way”.

The Telegraph won a further three awards at the annual ceremony, often described as the Oscars for British journalism.

The newspaper won Broadsheet Front Page of the Year while Simon Townsley was named Photographer of the Year. Chris Leadbeater won the award for Travel Journalist of the Year.

Chris Evans, the Telegraph’s editor, praised his team and said the award of the best website for the second year running was a timely reminder that the newspaper and its website were thriving while also attractive to outside buyers ahead of any sale.

Mr Evans said: “To be named best website for two years running is testament to the consistent brilliance of our dedicated team of hard-working journalists. At a time when the newspaper group is up for sale, this award reinforces what we all know - that the Telegraph’s digital offering is the best in the business.”

In their citation, The Press Awards’ judges said: “The Telegraph’s website is an outstanding product which uses excellent design in an imaginative and innovative way to maximise some of the most important stories of the year - from the Ukraine War to the Coronation and the Lockdown Files.”

The judges said The Telegraph’s award-winning front page on the first day of its coverage of the Lockdown Files, a series of WhatsApp messages sent between ministers and advisers during Covid-19, had been “compelling”.

The judges said: “The Lockdown Files represented an enormous volume of material to be released over several days - so effective presentation from the outset was critical. This front page combined a compelling splash news line with a powerful banner.”

Simon Townsley’s photographs - including in the aftermath of the Turkey earthquake and starvation in the Democratic Republic of Congo - were described by the judges as a “beautiful set of images with a wide variety of assignments that clearly show a photographer at the top of his game and who was a witness to many of the biggest news stories”.

His Telegraph colleague Heathcliff O’Malley was highly commended for a series of heart-rending images taken in Ukraine.

Chris Leadbeater’s travel dispatches from Sweden and Egypt among other places, were described by the judges as “beautiful, expansive writing [that] gives a great sense of place. His observations are enjoyable, inventive and take the reader with him on his travels”.