Mental Health Media Awards 2002
17th October 2002
JESSIE WALLACE, DENIS LAWSON AND DENISE WELCH TRIUMPH AT MENTAL HEALTH MEDIA AWARDS Photos available: Eastenders’ Kat Slater, played by Jessie Wallace, actor Denis Lawson and ex-Coronation Street actor, Denise Welch all triumphed in this year’s Mental Health Media Awards held at BAFTA on the evening of Thursday 17 October. The annual Mental Health Media Awards recognise portrayals and reporting in broadcast media which challenge the misinformation, taboos and stereotypes which surround mental health problems and distress. Jessie Wallace and Eastenders took top prize in the Soap and Drama Series category for powerfully challenging the stigma and silence that surround the sensitive issues of childhood sexual abuse and suicide. Karen Mattison, Director of Mental Health Media, said, “the storyline in which Kat disclosed she’d been sexually abused by her uncle and the way her family reacted to her painful disclosure had a huge impact. Jessie’s moving performance enabled millions of viewers to better understand both the hopelessness and despair that precede a suicide attempt and the social causes which are so often at the roots of mental distress.” On hearing the news of Eastenders’ success, John Yorke former exec Producer of Eastenders said, “We’re delighted to win this prestigious award. We thought long and hard about tackling such a difficult and emotional subject on pre-watershed television; so it’s extremely flattering to find it’s been so well received.” The portrayal received further praise from the Samaritans. Simon Armson, Chief Executive, said, “There is always a balance to be struck when depicting suicide and the feelings that lead to it in the media, whether news reports, documentaries or drama. On one hand it is important to avoid in any way either glorifying or trivialising these issues, to do so can be offensive or may lead to the possibility of imitative behaviour. On the other hand it is important not to ignore these issues and pretend that they do not exist as this perpetuates the taboo that surrounds them. There is no doubt that Eastenders strikes that balance correctly.” Judges heaped praise on the “beautifully-crafted” and “brilliant” winner of the Single Drama and Drama Serial category, ‘New Found Land - Leonard’, starring actor and director, Denis Lawson, for its sympathetic, compassionate and enlightening portrayal of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Denise Welch, presenter of Carlton TV’s Mind Your Head, which won in the Public Information campaign category, was applauded by the judging panel for her openness of her own experience of mental distress which very much reflected the overall approach of the campaign.
NOTES TO EDITORS 1) JESSIE WALLACE WILL BE ATTENDING THE CEREMONY ON THURSDAY 17 OCTOBER TO COLLECT HER AWARD. For further information or to request photographs of the award winners please contact Kate Summerside on 0207 700 8171 (Mobile: 07761 132157) or Katie Brudenell at Mental Health Media on 0207 700 8171 (Mobile: 07904 154 099) 2) THE WINNERS Soaps and Drama Series: Eastenders: Kat Slater sexual abuse/suicide attempt storyline BBC Drama Series for BBC 1 Executive Producer: John Yorke Writer: Tony Jordan Director: Clive Arnold TV & Radio News: PM: Mental Health Report BBC Radio 4 Producer: Sharon Alcock, Reporter: Chris Hogg TV Documentary: The Boy Can’t Help It BBC Documentaries, Factual and Learning, for BBC1 Executive Producer: Todd Austin Director: Min Clough, Editor: Steve Barclay Factual Radio: Face the Facts, BBC Radio 4 Presenter: John Waite, Producer: Will Yates Series Producer: Susan Mitchell Single Drama & Drama Serial: New Found Land: Leonard Stella Maris Films for Scottish TV/Grampian TV Producer: Gill Parry, Director: Brian Kelly Writer: Richard Smith, Editor: Berny McGurk Production Designer: Judy Ritchie Art Designer: Althea McGhie Survivor: Liz Main Powerhouse: Challenge to Mental Health Reforms ITN for Channel 4 Radio Drama: Other Voices BBC Factual and Learning Radio for BBC Radio 4 Producer: Sara Davies Writer Sara Maitland Public Information Campaign: Mind Your Head – presented by Denise Welch Carlton Television for Carlton, Central and West Country Producer/Director: Jane Hardstaff Producer/Director/Editor: David Fuller
3) The judges of the Mental Health Media Awards 2002 were Jane Drabble OBE, Director of Education at the BBC 1994-1999: Donna Franceschild, BAFTA-winning writer: Professor Roger Graef, Films of Record: Vivien Lindow, psychologist and survivor activist: James McAteer, Director Media Action Group for Mental Health: Liz Main, journalist, producer and media consultant: Rufus May, clinical psychologist and winner of Mental Health Media’s Survivor of the Year Award 2001: Ian Mayes, Reader’s Editor of the Guardian: Jenni Murray, BBC Radio 4: Francesca O’Brien, Editor, International & Social Affairs Channel 4: Dr Phil Thomas, Consultant Psychiatrist: Premila Trivedi, co-founder of SIMBA, the Black User Group at the Maudsley Hospital.
4) The Mental Health Media Awards 2002 were sponsored by the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the ITC, Janssen Cilag Ltd, Kings Fund, mentality, Mind Out for Mental Health, Rethink, the Mental Health Foundation, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and supported by the Guardian, the Wellcome Trust, RAP Printers, BAFTA and VET.
5) Mental Health Media is a unique communications organisation which challenges discrimination around mental health by promoting the voice of mental health service users in all media. Mental Health Media offers a range of video and new media training materials, provides media skills training courses, runs the annual Mental Health Media Awards and works with journalists and broadcasters to inform their coverage of mental health issues.
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