Graduates nominated in Yorkshire Press Awards for second time

By UK Journalism

Two former students have been nominated in an awards ceremony for Yorkshire journalists for the second year running.

Alex Fredman is up for Trainee Reporter of the Year and John Edwards for Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Yorkshire Press Awards.

Last year Alex won Young Journalist of the Year and John won Weekly reporter of the Year at the same award ceremony.

Amazed

Alex, who works for the Whitby Gazette, said: “I'm absolutely amazed and delighted to be shortlisted for a second time. I was really shocked when I saw my name as there are four other reporters in the same category.”

John has been jointly nominated with his colleague Thom Kennedy for a weekly feature in the Bridlington Free Press that sees John and Thom go head to head in and Ant vs Dec style challenge. So far they have mastered a range of sports, cookery challenges, hobbies and jobs. They even tried to learn Chinese in an hour and called a game of bingo in front of a packed hall of players.

John said: “Newspapers are full of crime, deaths, court reports and doom and gloom but there is definitely room for something more light-hearted.

“Many of the sports clubs we have featured have gone on to gain extra members, or we have promoted forthcoming events and helped to boost attendances by giving it great pre-publicity. It's rewarding to know that it can make a small difference to groups in the community.”

Alex entered the same category twice, submitting four news and four feature stories and will only find out on the night which ones were shortlisted.

One of her news stories was on the success of an appeal for victims of the Whitby and District Farepak Appeal. The Whitby Gazette newspaper has been nominated in the Campaign Category of the awards for its work to raise £39,540 for the victims. Alex did a lot of work not only writing stories to publicise it, but she also negotiated extra vouchers for people.

She also entered an exclusive interview with the father-in law of a soldier shot dead in Afghanistan. He spoke about his daughter giving birth to a baby after her husband's death and their thoughts on him being nominated for a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Alex's other news entries were a piece about a seriously ill man having to wait 42 minutes for and ambulance and a story about a family terrorised by a neighbour.

“The stories were all self generated. I got them through contacts or sniffed them out rather than being told to write them and I think that came across in the stories” Alex said.

John says just being nominated is an achievement in itself.

Quirky and fun

“Yorkshire is a big area with plenty of newspapers so there is plenty of competition. If the judges are looking for something quirky and fun to read, then we should have a very good chance. Hopefully they will see us as full of ideas and enthusiasm.”

Alex will receive £500 if she wins the Trainee Journalist of the Year. Her prize for winning last year was a week working with the breaking news team at the San Diego Union-Tribune in California. John’s prize will be £150 and a trophy if he and Thom win in their category.

John left UCLan in 2000 and has worked for the Bridlington Free Press ever since, working his way up from Trainee Reporter, to Chief Reporter and Sub Editor. Alex started working for the Whitby Gazette in March 2005 and says she wouldn’t be where she is today without UCLan.

“The BA (Hons) Journalism course was brilliant. I recommend it to everyone I know who is considering becoming a journalist. I loved every minute of it.”

The Yorkshire Press Awards will be held at Thorpe Park Hotel and Spa in Leeds on 22nd November.

More info
BA (Hons) Journalism
PGDip Newspaper Journalism
Whitby Gazette
John vs Thom

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