The British Academy Television Award for Best News Coverage is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "an individual news programme"
The category has been through some name changes and has been merged a couple of times with other categories like Best Sport and Live Event and Best Current Affairs: In 1961 and 1962 an individual award named Best Current Events was presented, later in 1970 a category called Best Factual Current Affair was awarded. From 1978 to 1985 and also in 1992 it was presented as Best Actuality Coverage. From 1986 to 1991 it was presented as Best News or Outside Broadcast Coverage. From 1993 to 1994 and then from 1998 to 2001 it was presented as Best News and Current Affairs Journalism. From 1995 to 1997 and then since 2002 it has been presented as Best News Coverage.
Winners and nominees 1960s Year Title Recipient(s) Broadcaster1961 Sportsview unit BBC1962 Bill Allenby
1970s Best Factual Current Affair Year Title Recipient(s)1970 News at Ten Man on the MoonApollo 11Moon Landing Special David Nicholas, Geoffrey Hughes The Money Programme Michael Bunce
Best Actuality Coverage Year Title Recipient(s)1978 A Day of Celebration Anthony Craxton BBC Coverage of Wimbledon '77 Sports Production Team Blow Out at Bravo Grampian Production Team Jubilee '77 Outside Broadcast Production Team1979 The Open Golf Championship AP Wilkinson Home from the Sea John Vernon ITV Coverage of The World Cup Sports Production Team Wimbledon '78 AP Wilkinson
1980s Best Actuality Coverage Year Title Recipient(s)1980 Last Night of the Proms Ian Engelmann Cosi Fan Tutte Peter Hall, John Vernon Earl Mountbatten's Funeral Mike LumleyBBC News Coverage of Fastnet Boat Race 1981 ITN Coverage of the Iranian Embassy Siege David Goldsmith and the Production Team BBC Coverage of the Iranian Embassy Siege News Production Team 80 Gracious Years Jim Pople Embassy World Snooker Championship Nick Hunter Wimbledon 1980 Men's Final Jonathan Martin1982 ITN Coverage of Poland International Snooker Nick Hunter BBC Royal Wedding Coverage Michael Lumley and the Production Team ITV Royal Wedding Coverage Jim Pople, Stewart Purvis and the Production Team1983 BBC Coverage of the Falklands BBC Television NewsNews at Ten ITN Coverage of the Falklands ITN Production TeamRaising of the Mary Rose1984 ITN Coverage of the Lebanon Crisis ITN Production Team Die Fledermaus Humphrey Burton The Nation Decides ITN Production Team 1983 London Marathon John Shrewsbury1985 Nine O'Clock News: Ethiopian Famine Michael Buerk, Mohammed Amin Breakfast Time, Friday, October 12th - The Brighton Bomb David Lloyd, Peter O'Kill, Sandy McCourt Channel 4 News Stewart Purvis and the Production Team Coverage of the Brighton Bomb BBC News Team
Best News or Outside Broadcast Coverage Year Title Recipient(s)1986 BBC Live Aid for Africa Channel 4 News Stewart Purvis and the Production Team News at Ten Alastair Burnet and the Production Team Newsnight Richard Tait1987 Channel 4 News Stewart Purvis Hospital Watch Fiona Holmes, Caroline Van Den Brul News at Ten: Coverage of the American Bombing Raid on Libya David Nicholas Newsnight Richard Tait Nine O'Clock News: Coverage of the American Bombing Raid on Libya Rick Thompson and the Production Team The Queen in China Tim Marshall The Royal Wedding 1988 Special Edition Of Channel 4 News: Coverage of the Zeebrugge Disaster Stewart Purvis BBC News Coverage of the Zeebrugge Disaster Ron Neil Channel 4 News Richard Tait, Stewart Purvis News at Ten Nick Pollard1989 Channel 4 News The Kirov Ballet Live in London John Michael Phillips Nelson Mandela Concert Mike Appleton, Tim Marshall, Neville Bolt Newsnight John Morrison
1990s Best News or Outside Broadcast Coverage Year Title Recipient(s)1990 BBC News: Tiananmen Square Massacre Steve Selman BBC Berlin Wall Coverage John Mahoney Nine O'Clock News: Kate Adie Secret Report from Chinese Hospital Kate AdieITN Coverage of Romania1991 Channel 4 News Domingo, Carreras, Pavarotti in Concert Brian Large ITN Coverage of Mrs Thatcher's Resignation David Mannion World Cup 1990 BBC Sport Production Team
Best Actuality Coverage Year Title Recipient(s)1992 ITN News Coverage of the Gulf War Brent Sadler, Production TeamBBC News Coverage of the Gulf War Pavarotti in Hyde Park Christopher Swann, Andy Ward Newsnight: Soviet Coup Collapses Tim Gardam
Best News and Current Affairs Journalism Year Title Recipient(s)1993 Serbian Prison Camps Discovery Penny Marshall, Ian Williams BBC Coverage of Sarajevo Martin Bell BBC Coverage of the Barcelona Olympics Martin Hopkins Newsnight Tim Gardam1994 Channel 4 News BBC1 Coverage of the Bosnian Massacre Martin Bell BBC2 Newsnight Coverage of Kurdistan George AlagiahNews at Ten Coverage of the Storming of the Moscow White House and the Civil War in Georgia
Best News Coverage Year Title Recipient(s)1995 ITN1 Coverage of the Crisis In Rwanda Channel 4 News Coverage of the Estonia Ferry DisasterChannel 4 News Coverage of the South African Elections BBC1 News Coverage on Rwanda John Simpson1996 Channel 4 News Coverage of War Crimes in Former Yugoslavia BBC1 News Coverage on Bosnia Martin Bell BBC2 Newsnight Peter HorrocksITN Coverage of the War in Chechnya1997 BBC Newsnight: BSE Coverage Peter Horrocks Channel 4 News Coverage of the Refugee Crisis in Zaire and Rwanda BBC Newsnight: Dunblane Massacre Peter HorrocksITV News at Ten: Coverage of Dunblane
Best News and Current Affairs Journalism Year Title Recipient(s)1998 Panorama: Valentina's Story Mike Robinson BBC Election Night Programme Peter Horrocks Channel 4 Coverage of the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales Jim Gray ITV Coverage of the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales Nigel Dacre1999 Dispatches: Inside the Animal Liberation Front David Monaghan, Deborah Davies, Graham Hall Correspondent: ETA - Coming in from the Cold Ewa Ewart, Fiona Murch, Orla Guerin ITN's Coverage of the Omagh Bomb and its Aftermath Nigel Dacre and the Production Team Newsnight: Coverage Of the Northern Ireland Peace Process Martha Kearney, Sian Kevill
2000s Best News and Current Affairs Journalism Year Title Recipient(s) Broadcaster2000 Coverage of the Kosovo Conflict John Simpson and the BBC News Team BBC One Coverage of the Kosovo Conflict Sky News Production Team Sky News The Paddington Crash The Channel 4 News Team Channel 4 Tonight with Trevor McDonald: Interview with the Lawrence Suspects Jeff Anderson, James Goldston, Ingrid Kelly ITV2001 Out of Africa Sorious Samura, Ron McCullagh Channel 4 Mozambique Floods BBC News Team BBC News 24Mozambique Floods - The Event and the Aftermath ITV Panorama: Who Bombed Omagh? Eamon Hardy, John Ware BBC One
Best News Coverage Year Title Recipient(s) Broadcaster2002 Sky News: September 11th/12th Sky News BBC News Coverage of The Fall of Kabul - 12/13 November BBC News 24Channel 4 News: Attack on America - 11 September Channel 4ITV News: Attack on America - 11 September ITV2003 Soham – August 16/17 Sky NewsCollapse of the Paul Burrell Trial BBC News 24Jenin and Bethlehem - What Chance of Peace? Channel 4The Death of the Queen Mother ITV2004 Channel 4 News - Fall of Saddam Channel 4 Newsnight BBC TwoThe Ten O'Clock News BBC OneSky News: Fall of Baghdad Sky News2005 BBC Ten O'Clock News: Madrid Bombing BBC One BBC News 24: Hutton BBC News 24Sky News: The Tsunami Disaster Sky News Tsunami: Seven Days that Shook the World ITV News Team ITV2006 BBC Ten O'Clock News - 7 July 2005: London Bombs BBC One Channel 4 News - The Attorney General Story Jon Snow, Gary Gibbon, Robert Hamilton Channel 4ITV Evening News - The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes ITV Sky News - 7 July Bombings Sky News2007 Granada Reports: Morecambe Bay ITV BBC Ten O'Clock News - Terrorism Plot at Heathrow Craig Oliver, Huw Edwards, Kate Robinson, Daniel Sandford BBC One Channel 4 News - News from Iran Jon Snow, Deborah Rayner, Ben Monro-Davies, Martin Collett Channel 4 ITV Evening News - The Israel/Lebanon Crisis Julian Manyon, Mark Austin, Geoff Hill, Rob Bowles ITV2008 Sky News - Glasgow Airport Attack Sky News BBC Ten O'Clock News: War in Afghanistan Craig Oliver, Huw Edwards, Alastair Leithead, Thea Fairley BBC OneITV Evening News: Zimbabwe - The Tyranny and the Tragedy ITV Channel 4 News: Iraq - The Surge Jim Gray, Jon Snow, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Ed Fraser Channel 42009 News at Ten - Chinese Earthquake Bill Neely, John Ray, Rob Bowles, Lu Bo ITV Channel 4 News Jim Gray, Jonathan Miller, Ben De Pear, Soren Munk Channel 4 Sky News - Canoe Man Gerard Tubb Sky NewsSky News - Mumbai
2010s Year Title Recipient(s) Broadcaster2010 ITV News at Ten - Haiti Mark Austin, Bill Neely, David Harman, John Irvine ITV BBC News Channel - The Haiti Earthquake Kevin Bakhurst, Ben Brown, Matthew Price, Matt Frei BBC NewsChannel 4 News - Haiti Earthquake Channel 4Sky News - Pakistan: Terror's Frontline Sky News2011 ITV News at Ten: The Cumbria Murders ITV BBC News at Ten: Handover of Power Huw Edwards, James Stephenson BBC One/BBC NewsChannel 4 News Channel 4Sky News: Egypt Crisis Sky News2012 Channel 4 News: Japan Earthquake Channel 4BBC News at Ten: Siege of Homs BBC OneITV News at Ten: Battle of Misrata ITVSky News: Libya Rebel Convoy - Live Sky News2013 Hillsborough – The Truth at Last (Granada Reports) ITVBBC News at Ten: Syria BBC OneChannel 4 News: Battle for Homs Channel 42014 ITV News at Ten: Woolwich Attacks ITV The Lee Rigby Trial: ITV Granada Reports ITV/ITV GranadaThe Dale Cregan Verdict: North West Tonight Special BBC One/BBC North WestChannel 4 News: Egypt Military Coup Channel 42015 Sky News Live at Five: Ebola Alex Crawford, Nick Ludlam, Thomas Moore, David Rees Sky News BBC News at Ten BBC News/BBC One Channel 4 News – Inside Gaza: Children Under Fire Jon Snow, Ben de Pear, Nevine Mabro Channel 4ITV News at Ten: Iraq Crisis ITV2016 Channel 4 News: Paris Massacre Jon Snow, Lindsey Hilsum, Jonathan Rugman, Ben de Pear Channel 4 BBC News at Six: Paris Attacks Special BBC OneITV News at Ten: Refugee Crisis ITV Sky News: From Turkey to Greece Alex Crawford, Garwen McLuckie, Colin Brazier, Kirsty Walker Sky News2017 Victoria Derbyshire: Footballers' Abuse Victoria Derbyshire, Louisa Compton, Jo Adnitt BBC Two Channel 4 News: Brexit Channel 4BBC North West Tonight: Hillsborough Inquests BBC OneSky News Tonight - Aleppo: The Death of a City Sky News2018 The Rohingya Crisis (Sky News) || style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Sky News |- | colspan="2"|The Battle for Mosul (Sky News) || Sky News |- | The Grenfell Tower Fire (Channel 4 News) || Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Jackie Long, Cathy Newman, Ben de Pear || Channel 4 |- | colspan="2"|The Grenfell Tower Fire (ITV News at Ten) || ITV |- |rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2019 || colspan="2" style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Cambridge Analytica Uncovered Channel 4 Bullying and Harassment in the House of Commons (Newsnight) BBC TwoGood Morning Britain: On A Knife Edge? ITVGood Morning Britain: Thomas Markle Exclusive
2020s Year Title Recipient(s) Broadcaster2020 Hong Kong Protests Sky News ITV News at Ten: Election Results ITVPrince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal (Newsnight) BBC TwoVictoria Derbyshire: Men Who Lost Loved Ones to Knife Crime2021 Sky News: "Inside IDLIB" || style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Sky News|- | colspan="2"|BBC News at Ten: Prime Minister Admitted to Intensive Care || BBC News/BBC One |- | colspan="2"|Channel 4 News: Deterring Democracy || Channel 4 |- | colspan="2"|Newsnight: COVID Care Crisis || BBC Two |-