The detective whose eloquent, award-winning blog illuminated the darker corners of 21st-century law enforcement – and landed him in trouble with his superiors – is returning to the literary beat to judge the prize that made his name.

"For me, it is significant that this happened at all. Normally these sorts of events are dominated by large publishers with lobbying muscle. Yet here we had a group combining hyperlocal bloggers, successful startups like Facebook, Ground Report, Global Voices and the Huffington Post, social media figures like Nick Booth and Jon Bounds, and traditional organisations like The Guardian, BBC, RSA and Ofcom. Jeff Jarvis pitched into the mix via Skype."