‘Your 2011’ blog competition winner announced.
Channel 4 News has announced the winner of our “Your 2011” blog competition as Susan Reedie, from Dorset.
What were the key events that affected you during this tumultuous year of news? That was the question we asked in our blog competition, “Your 2011”.
We received many thought-provoking entries, covering a broad range of news events from 2011: the Arab Spring, the London riots, Japan’s devastating tsunami, and the royal wedding of William and Catherine were just some of your key news events of 2011.
Susan’s entry was a moving, personal account of youth unemployment in Britain today as experienced by her graduate son.
She writes how her son has been unable to find any paid work, despite graduating with 2:1 degree from the University of York in 2010.
You can read her full blog post here: Young, educated and jobless.
The runner-up blog post was by Jim Curry and told another personal, touching story as the brother of a British soldier currently serving in Afghanistan.
For Jim, 2011 was a bittersweet year with the prospect of hearing bad news of “another soldier shot in Afghanistan” never far from his mind.
Read Jim’s entry here: Remembering the troops in Afghanistan
Since January 2011 he has had no job at all, despite applying for at least one job per day: graduate jobs, non-graduate jobs, anything. – Susan Reedie
As the author of the winning post, Susan Reedie will get a chance to meet presenter Jon Snow and go behind the scenes at Channel 4 News to see the programme go out live from the director’s gallery.
Jon Snow, who was among the judging panel, said: “My criteria were, did it provoke a response or a comment in me, and Susan’s moving account as a mother looking at youth unemployment through the experiences of her son, did indeed make me want to respond.”
One of Jon’s fellow judges was Vicky Taylor, the Head of Commissioning for New Media, Channel 4 News and Current Affairs. She said; “We were really impressed with the range of the topics which people covered when looking back on 2011.
“But the two which really stood out for the judges were both very personal accounts, one of the spectre of youth unemployment and the other of being the close relative of a serving soldier in Afghanistan. Both topics, which although very personal to their narrator, had nation-wide appeal and were both highly readable”.
The other competition judges were Paul Brannan, Senior Programme Editor Online, Channel 4 News and Amy Lawson, Press Officer, Channel 4 News.
You can read a selection of some the entries other entries we received in our “Your 2011” blog.
Jon’s personal overview of the big stories he has reported on and witnessed this year will be broadcast on Channel 4 on 28 December at 8pm in a programme called Jon Snow’s 2011.