The Shafta Awards are British awards given annually for "the very worst in tabloid journalism".''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 26 April 2006
Monkey goes to the Shaftas
/ref> They were established in 1987 following a '' Daily Star'' story "Princess Margaret to appear in Crossroads" by Geoff Baker and Pat Codd, in honour of which they are also known as the "Princess Margaret Awards".''

'', 5 May 2008
And the winner is ...
/ref> ''

'' wrote in 2008 that "Shaftas host

Johnny Vaughan Jonathan Randal Vaughan (born 16 July 1966) is an English television and radio presenter and a film critic. He was the main presenter of '' Capital Breakfast'' alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011. Vaughan currently ...

often sums up the awards' ethos by quoting a tabloid journalist who once told a colleague: 'Fuck the facts, just quote a friend - the pub's open in 10 minutes.'"

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

, winner of a lifetime achievement Shafta in 2005, described the awards as "celebrat ngwhat I believe to be the very essence of

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

: the regular ability of adult, intelligent, well-educated, street-smart journalists to behave like complete and utter numbskulls." The awards were originally little more than a meeting in a pub, and were not held between 1997 and 2001, when they were revived by ''

The People The People may refer to: Legal jargon * The People, term used to refer to the people in general, in legal documents * "We the People of the United States", from the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution * In philosophy, economics, and political scienc ...

'''s showbiz editor Sean O'Brien. Winners include

Sean Hoare Sean Matthew Hoare (1963 – c. 17 July 2011) was a British entertainment journalist. He contributed to articles on show business, from actors to reality television stars. He played a central role in contributing to exposing the News Internati ...

and

, winning lifetime achievement Shaftas in 2004 and 2005 respectively. James Desborough also won the ""can we hear the tape?" award for verbatim quotes" in 2002 for an interview with

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

that

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

alleged included a fabricated quote.

References

{{reflist Ironic and humorous awards Awards established in 1987 British journalism awards 1987 establishments in the United Kingdom