The Daily Mail received top honours at the Future of Media Awards for its innovative Deep Dive format, a visual journalism style that combines investigative reporting with striking graphics and presentations. Harry Lewis-Irlam, the director of visual storytelling at the Daily Mail, won the Media Innovator of the Year award for his work on this format. Notable achievements include an exposé on the Epstein scandal and a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the 9/11 attacks using 3D models. Additionally, the newspaper earned the Best Online Video prize for its investigative piece on Mo Farah's identity theft story, which involved interviews with the real person whose name was used to bring Farah to Britain.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Daily Mail was awarded top honors at the Future of Media Awards for its innovative Deep Dive format, which combines in-depth investigative reporting with visually stunning presentation. Harry Lewis-Irlam received the Media Innovator of the Year award for his work on this format, praised by judges for its unique blend of exclusive revelations and high-quality design. One notable investigation was a detailed exposé of the Epstein files, reaching over 1 million readers. The Deep Dive series also tackled more sensitive topics like dementia education through partnership with the Alzheimer's Society.
Written for “Daily Mail Visual Journalism Awarded” on 2026-09-12,
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The Daily Mail was last night lauded for revolutionising visual journalism, pushing the boundaries to the extreme by combining in-depth investigative reporting with stunning presentation.
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Mail → laud → presentation
Judges at the Future of Media Awards crowned Harry Lewis-Irlam the Media Innovator of the Year for his work on the Daily Mail's groundbreaking Deep Dive format.
Deep Dive's unique marriage of exclusive revelations, premium storytelling, footage and graphics has proved a smash hit with readers on their desktops, tablets and phones, driving unprecedented engagement with our audiences.
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marriage → crown → audiences
One recent success was a damning exposé of the Epstein files, which laid bare the full extent of the paedophile's depravity in graphic detail to more than a million readers.
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which → lay → readers
Crowning Harry Lewis-Irlam the Innovator of the Year, judges at the Future of Media Awards heaped praise on his contribution, saying: 'Interesting, well-conceived, well-sourced and well-designed graphics are fundamental to modern journalistic storytelling'
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graphics → crown → storytelling
And it broke new ground by partnering with Alzheimer's Society to educate readers on the early warning signs of dementia.
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it → break → dementia
Deep Dive has also tackled lighter subjects – such as the popularity of baby names – with similarly stellar results.
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Dive → tackle → results
Awarding the prize to Lewis-Irlam, the Mail's director of visual storytelling, judges heaped praise on his contribution, saying: 'Interesting, well-conceived, well-sourced and well-designed graphics are fundamental to modern journalistic storytelling.
'
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graphics → award → storytelling
This year's winner is recognised for helping transform the look of a UK journalism megabrand and helping to prove that quality popular journalism can pay its way online.
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journalism → recognise → way
Lewis-Irlam said: 'I feel really honoured to win this award, reflecting the incredible team efforts of the peerless Deep Dive unit.
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I → say → unit
'Even bigger and better visual storytelling is planned for the weeks, months and years ahead.
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storytelling → plan → weeks
Marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, Deep Dive today published a forensically researched minute by minute reconstruction – using 3D models of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon – of how the day unfolded.
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day → mark → Towers
The Daily Mail also took the prestigious Best Online Video award for a groundbreaking piece about the 'real Mo Farah'.
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Mail → take → Farah
The video – which was the result of months of painstaking investigative work by Andy Jehring and Kamal Sultan in the UK and Africa, combined with camerawork from Jamie Wiseman and excellent production and editing skills by Charlie Craven, Luke Blackall and Adam Dokhan – told the story of the man in Somalia whose identity and visa were used to bring the Olympic athlete to the UK.
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identity → combine → UK
Our reporters told his heartbreaking story for the first time, with exclusive interviews with him and his family, detailing his life since that fateful moment so many years ago when he was left alone in Africa in place of the boy who went on to enjoy dizzying Olympic success and become Sir Mo.
Judges said: 'This was gripping reporting told brilliantly across multiple formats investigating the origin story of a national treasure.'
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This → tell → treasure
