Abi Whistance

A young journalist with real promise, Abi Whistance has delivered thought-provoking investigations covering Merseyside for regional start-up Mill Media. In a two-month-long project, she revealed a food delivery app had received £700,000 of public money despite concerns about its business model, and asked why hard-pressed local authorities (in this case, Liverpool City Region) keep investing public money in unproven schemes. 

The judges commended her strong range of submissions, which took straightforward stories and gave them real depth. This was exemplified by an article on the ownership of graffiti, which examined what happened to five famous Banksy artworks that were removed from Merseyside over a decade, unpicking a complex web of property sales and failed projects. A separate investigation looked at why several headless sharks had washed up on local beaches. Whistance went undercover, discovering vigilante fishermen on the Wirral who fight the use of gill nets, vertical panels of netting designed to maximise catches. Fishermen pointed the finger at so-called ‘netsmen’ – accusing them of immoral fishing practices and endangering wildlife – but Whistance maintained a critical eye, uncovering a more complicated truth: a rivalry between anglers and netsmen which went as far back as the 1970s with rumours of armed confrontations, as well as the issue of commercial bycatch, the capture of non-target species during fishing.

The judges commended her strong range of submissions, which took straightforward stories and gave them real depth. This was exemplified by an article on the ownership of graffiti, which examined what happened to five famous Banksy artworks that were removed from Merseyside over a decade, unpicking a complex web of property sales and failed projects.