Daily Mail's pioneering visual journalism awarded top honours for groundbreaking Deep Dive format and incredible Mo Farah investigation

Published: 09:02 EDT, 11 September 2026 | Updated: 09:11 EDT, 11 September 2026 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.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.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. 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'And it broke new ground by partnering with Alzheimer's Society to educate readers on the early warning signs of dementia. Deep Dive has also tackled lighter subjects – such as the popularity of baby names – with similarly stellar 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. '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.'Lewis-Irlam said: 'I feel really honoured to win this award, reflecting the incredible team efforts of the peerless Deep Dive unit. 'Even bigger and better visual storytelling is planned for the weeks, months and years ahead. This really is just the beginning.'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. The Daily Mail also took the prestigious Best Online Video award for a groundbreaking piece about the 'real Mo 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 excellent production and editing skills by Charlie Craven 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. 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.'