Channel 4 News launches search for Best Young Blogger

Can you blog with passion, personality and genuine insight about issues that people your age actually care about?

Do you know how to take apart the news agenda and put it back together with thought-provoking commentary and intelligent analysis?

Is your work good enough to sit alongside blogs from Jon Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murthy?

The competition is open to anyone aged between 16 to 24 on 1 November 2010, and the winner will see their work sit alongside the blogs of Channel 4’s most famous journalists. They will write a daily blog for the Channel 4 News website for one week – and have a full tour of the studio and newsroom, with the opportunity to accompany teams out in the field and watch the 7pm bulletin go out live.

Jon Snow, Presenter, Channel 4 News says: “I’ve been blogging for our site for years now, and I love the way that one minute I could be blogging about an international conflict, the next musing on a strange incident that occurred on my cycle to work. The key is being inclusive and open about what it is that has captured your imagination that day.

“I know from the emails and tweets I receive every day that there are hundreds of young people who absolutely live their lives through their blogs and social networks, and this competition is a chance to celebrate that. I’m determined that our brilliant judging panel will find the very best young blogger out there – they’ve already blazed a trail in the blogosphere and now it’s their turn to find a blogger who might just have the same impact.”

Jon will be joined by the following on the judging panel:

• Krishnan Guru-Murthy – Channel 4 News presenter, GuruBlog
• Benjamin Cohen – Channel 4 News Technology Correspondent, founder of pinknews.co.uk and the C4News Technology blog
• Vicky Taylor – Commissioning Editor, New Media, News and Current Affairs at Channel 4
• Richard Bacon – BBC 5Live Presenter
• Iain Dale – Political Blogger and LBC Radio host
• Josh Halliday – Trainee reporter, Media & Technology, the Guardian

How to Enter
Send us an email to bestyoungblogger@channel4.com outlining the following:
Name
Date of Birth
Hometown
Brief biog (max 150 words, tell us what you’re interested in and why you blog)
Your blog (max 600 words)
Closing date 15 Oct

Krishnan Guru-Murthy explains:

• We want to find a blogger with personality and insight who captures or sets the spirit of our times.
• You’ll need to demonstrate a clear understanding of how news affects young people.
• We love great writing, that reveals the person behind the blog or the idea running through it.
• No diatribes please. We want to see some balance and a blog that makes people think and provokes debate, not one that tells us all the answers.
• We love all kinds of written, audio and visual content and want the most inventive blogs too

Conditions of Entry

All entrants to read Channel 4’s Terms and Conditions in full here before entry.

• This competition is open to all 16-24 year olds based full time in the UK.
• We will ask for proof of date of birth to verify all shortlisted entries
• We will retain ultimate editorial control and copyright for all content on the Channel 4 News website
• The winner will be required to provide a short quote for any publicity
• The winner must make their own way to the Channel 4 News studio