Pirate FM News has won a prestigious award for the quality of its coverage.
The team at Cornwall’s biggest radio station has scooped the EDF Energy Southwest Media Award for Radio News 2008, having beaten off competition from commercial and BBC stations across the west of England.
Judges described the station’s focus on Cornish news as excellent, adding “the team aims to sound fresh, fun and exciting and to produce bulletins that go beyond everyday delivery, using the creative medium of radio to the full.”
Over the last year the station has broken a succession of high-profile stories, including the revelation that some Cornish school kitchens suffered pest infestations, had food past its sell by date and mould growing in fridges. A Pirate FM Investigation was responsible for revealing that seventy-five sex offenders had been released back onto the streets of Cornwall, without ever facing charges. It was the only local radio station to have been aboard HMS Cornwall shortly before the hostage crisis began.
Head of News Tristan Hunkin welcomed the award, “I’ve got a great team of journalists who live and love Cornwall. But it’s really our listeners we’ve got to thank. Every day they come straight to us with their stories helping us to make our coverage reliable and compelling”.
