Two graduates awarded in ceremony for Yorkshire journalists

By UK Journalism

Two UCLan journalism graduates have been recognised for their reporting skills at an awards ceremony for Yorkshire journalists.

Alex Fredman, who works at the Whitby Gazette, was crowned joint winner of the Yorkshire Young Journalist of the Year Award and John Edwards from the Bridlington Free Press won Weekly reporter of the Year at the Yorkshire Press Awards.

They were handed their prizes at a black-tie event in Leeds by BBC Look Northís Harry Gratian.

Privilege

John said: ìIt's nice to be recognised in this way by people within the industry. It's a real privilege and was completely unexpected.î

They were given a glass trophy, a certificate and a bottle of champagne. John was also awarded £150 and Alex, who beat off tough competition to share the title alongside Anna Smith from the Sheffield Star, won the opportunity to spend a week in California working for the breaking news team at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

She said: ìIt was one the proudest moments of my life as they had a record number of entries this year. I never expected to win the award so it was a big surprise when Harry Gratian said my name and invited me to come up onto the stage to collect my prize.î

Both submitted four pieces for nomination. Johnís included a story on the future of Bridlingtonís hospital and one on how the battle to become the town's mayor got personal and led to unrest at the council.

Alex wrote about a mechanic who was turned into a human fireball when a carís petrol tank exploded and his work mate saved his life. She also entered a feature on Whitbyís Coastguards, an exclusive interview with the chief of Whitby Police and a piece on a young couple who were being terrorised by neighbours and wanted to be re-housed.

John has worked for the Bridlington Free Press for the last six years and left UCLan in 2000. He is now Chief Reporter at the paper.

He said: ìThe town is full of characters and there are always plenty of good news stories to get our teeth into. It's a close community and people are very passionate about their town.î

Alex starting working at the Whitby Gazette in March 2005.

She said: ìItís a great place to work as it is a bi-weekly paper in a very busy tourist town. We have quite a small news team of three reporters including myself and a freelance which means there is good scope to cover lots of different types of stories as well as writing large scale features.î

Alex left UCLan in 2003 and says she loved her time on the course and that it fully prepared her for a career in journalism.

ìI would definitely recommend to any budding journalist considering studying the subject to do so at UCLAN. It's given me the stepping stone into my dream job.î

John added: ìMy university days were brilliant and the course gave me a fantastic grounding for life on a local paper.î

More info
BA (Hons) Journalism
PGDip Newspaper Journalism

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Our print and broadcast courses are accredited by the The Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Our MA Magazine Journalism is accredited by the Periodicals Training Council.