Johann Hari did not deserve Orwell Prize, say organisers
By Phil ScullionFollow @PhilScullion
Disgraced journalist Johann Hari would have been stripped of the Orwell Prize had he not decided to return it, the organisers have said.
The Independent columnist returned the plaque for the 2008 award by courier on September 14th without explanation, but is yet to pay back the £2,000 prize.
Further investigations by the Orwell Prize Council concluded that the article Mr Hari submitted in 2008 "contained inaccuracies and conflated different parts of someone else's story".
In a statement the Council added that the use of "unattributed and unacknowledged material did not meet the standards expected of Orwell Prize-winning journalism".
They had planned to strip Mr Hari of the award publicly, but held off doing so to give the shamed columnist a chance to defend himself.
He had not been able to do so because of an Independent newspaper investigation which prohibited him from communicating on the issue.
However the investigation has since been concluded, resulting in Mr Hari being put on unpaid leave until 2012 and told to undertake a journalism training course.
Following this he wrote an apology in which he said: "Even though I stand by the articles which won the George Orwell prize, I am returning it as an act of contrition for the errors I made elsewhere, in my interviews."
The Orwell Prize organisers have made an apology to other 2008 entrants, although they will not be re-awarding the prize.
In their statement they said that they do not have the independent capacity to check all work which is submitted and instead rely on the integrity of the authors.
Bill Hamilton, the acting chair of the Council of the Orwell Prize, said: "The Council is delighted to be able to put this difficult episode behind it finally, and get on with the important business of running the prizes and promoting the values of George Orwell into the future."
