THE winners of the Jerusalem Awards have been revealed for the final time, after its organisers, Jerusalem Productions Ltd, announced the end of the two-decade-old competition, to focus on producing their own content.
The company, which has invested in Christian programmes on UK terrestrial TV and radio stations since 1990, announced earlier this month that it would no longer be rewarding Christian broadcasting through its Jerusalem Awards, citing a change in the media landscape and a desire to produce its own programmes independently.
Sue Radford, who chairs the company, said in a statement: “Given that the media landscape has changed since the company’s inception, the directors have been considering its future, and recently agreed that it should start to produce its own content, focusing on digital platforms for a millennial audience.
“This means that the way Jerusalem Productions collaborates with other production companies will change. While there will be a shift away from a pure investment model, we hope to build on the relationships we have developed over the years and find creative ways of partnering to create intriguing Christian content.”
The winners of the 2018 (and final) Jerusalem Awards in seven categories were: Church History in Ten Minutes, TrueTube (Digital Video category); Meet the Nativity, meetthenativity.com (Festivals, Digital); At the Foot of the Cross, Radio 2 (Good Friday); Heart and Soul: The Right Thing: Bringing peace in South Sudan, World Service (Long Form Radio); Believers in Trump, UnHerd (News and Current Affairs); Mark Winterlin, Director and Editor (Under-25); What Is Beauty? Things Unseen (Digital Audio); Lent Talk: The silence of the lamb, Radio 4 (Festivals, Radio); Roy Jenkins, BBC (Presenter); All Things Considered, BBC Radio Wales (Radio Strand); Reformation Byte, Radio 3 (Short Form Radio).
The directors had been “impressed with both the creativity and the production values of entries” over the past 20 years, and were grateful to everyone who had taken part, Ms Radford said. “The new direction means the awards will stop as Jerusalem Productions considers other creative outlets, but we hope to have reasons to continue to connect.”