“We decided to help CJET do this to support the long-overdue campaign to get more Black people into the media. News rooms have never been more full of white middle-class male graduates and British journalism is the poorer as a result. We have gone backwards since the 1980s and now is the time to do something about it,” said Marc Wadsworth, editor of the-latest.com, which put its weight behind the initiative.

He added: “You only have to look at the biased “us and them” coverage of the riots in 2011, after young Black man Mark Duggan was shot dead by the police. Some of the reporting demonised the young people involved as ‘the enemy within’.”

“We tackled this bad journalism head on by organising a conference in 2011 that brought together young people from riot affected areas, journalists, scholars and members of the public.”

Conference organisers CJET and The-Latest produced a report titled Media and the riots – A call for Action, which was written by leading social scientist Dr Leah Bassel that resulted from the frank, robust and extremely useful exchange of views. One of its several practical recommendations was that a writing competition should be held to aid the much-needed process of making journalism in Britain more racially diverse.

The subject tackled by competition entrants was an issue that was important in their locality or a topic about which they felt strongly. They were told their opinion or editorial piece should be between 450 and 500 words in length, use at least two sources and could be illustrated with photographs or a short video clip.

They were able to find useful advice on sources and writing style in the Journalism Tips section at the foot of the home page of the-latest.com.

Prizes

A cash prize of £250, donated by CJET chair Martin Shaw on behalf of the trust, will be awarded to the winner who will also get a final interview at The Guardian for a place on the exciting positive action internship programme run by the national publication that has been voted newspaper of the year and won the prestigious Pulitzer prize. The runner up will win £150 and third placed entrant, £100, both sums donated by The Guardian. The winning columns will be published on The-Latest.Com and other news outlets.

Entries were submitted to competition@cjet.co.uk by 5pm on Friday, May 9 2014.

Judges

The judges are Dr Leah Bassel, University of Leicester, Dr Margaret Busby OBE, a CJET trustee, writer and former book publisher, Hugh Muir, diary editor of The Guardian, Yasir Mirza, head of diversity and inclusion at The Guardian, and journalist Samia Rahman, deputy director of the Muslim Institute.

Competition held to showcase young Black writers
CJET - Citizen Journalism Educational Trust

Karin Askham, Media School Dean at the London College of Communication

Lots of journalists and politicians have had their say about the bad state of the British tabloid press after the phone hacking scandal that closed down the News of the World, the country’s biggest selling newspaper. But, until a conference held on Saturday, June 8, nobody had given the very public the government’s Leveson Inquiry into press standards was all about the opportunity to hear from leading journalists on the subject and discuss solutions with them.

Tabloid defender: James Anslow

After Leveson, is Citizen Journalism the Answer? at the London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle, London, was hosted by the Citizen journalism Educational Trust and The-Latest.Com, Britain’s first dedicated citizen journalism news portal, and built on the success of their Media and the Riots conference that brought young people from riot affected areas and journalists face to face. The Leveson Inquiry accepted the Media and the Riots – A call for action conference report as evidence.

As we know from the shocking images, citizen journalism trumped big media when video cameras on phones captured the only recordings of the horrific scenes at the Woolwich murder of soldier Lee Rigby so it’s currently at the fore of the debate about news coverage.

Activist: Althea Grant

Top bloggers, campaigners for greater press regulation, those opposed to it, citizen journalists, scholars, trade unionists, students and members of the public will be at the one-day conference. Speakers include Karin Askham, Media School Dean at the London College of Communication, Laurie Penny, the popular New Statesman columnist, blogger and author, Angela Phillips, of EastLondonLines and Goldsmiths College, Dr Evan Harris, associate director of Hacked Off, the campaign that’s successfully championed the cause of the victims of phone hacking, James Anslow, an ex-News of the World and Sun production journalist, who mounted a brave defence of tabloid newspapers, Althea Grant, a

Campaigner: Evan Harris

Tottenham community activist and lawyer and Marc Wadsworth, the editor of The-Latest.Com.

In the wake of the outcry from Fleet Street’s finest about them not wanting to be regulated by law, the debate has turned to online news and comment. Will bloggers and sites like our, face draconian fines if lawyers are set loose on them? Or, should they be excluded from new regulation?

After the 2011 summer riots, some police and politicians, aware that young people share a lot of news using social media, urged the closing down of internet services including Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger, during times of civil unrest. Yet the post Leveson Inquiry debate seemed to have by-passed discussion that the way forward might not be with “big media”, whose circulations are tumbling, but with alternative reporting by the people for the people in the shape of citizen journalism.

Lecturer: Angela Phillips

Could newspapers recapture the vast space now occupied by a growing army of online bloggers and other members of the public publishing news, views and images unhindered by the demands of rich, powerful and partisan proprietors whose biased publications support big business and the Tories and rubbish trade unions and the Labour Party? Then again, maybe “big media” need not fear citizen journalism because it was a passing fad unable to uphold professional standards in an unaccountable wild west that is the World Wide Web.

Blogger: Laurie Penny

These important questions and more were discussed in a lively debate between key figures in the news media industry and the public that has already started on Twitter (hashtag #afterleveson). You can still “like” the conference on Facebook.

* See this must-read preview piece about the conference by Britain’s foremost media commentator Roy Greenslade.

After Leveson, is Citizen Journalism the answer?
CJET - Citizen Journalism Educational Trust

The comprehensive report, written by leading University of Leicester social scientist Dr Leah Bassel, comes from a conference in the UK held in November  2011 that was unique because it brought young people and community members living in riot stricken areas face to face with media representatives including journalists. Media and the Riots – A Call For Action contains conclusions and recommendations that pave the way for much better future news reporting.

Featuring a foreword by top media commentator Roy Greenslade, it took months of work to produce. The report is published by the Citizen Journalism Educational Trust and The-Latest.Com.  It is available here priced at:

£15.00 GBP  Organisations
£5.00   GBP  Individuals (UK)
£10.00 GBP  Individual   (Overseas)

Special report about media and the riots on sale
CJET - Citizen Journalism Educational Trust

The £1billion Youth Contract programme aims to make sure that every young person between the ages of 18 and 24 years is either earning or learning. It is expected that a quarter of a million work experience places will be created through the Department for Work and Pension’s work experience and sector-based work acadamies programmes.

Employers who recruit young people who are unemployed, claiming benefits and participating in the Work Programme will receive wage incentives worth up to £2,275.

Now that the voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector have voiced support for the programme, employers in this sector who want to offer jobs to young people will be able to participate in the wage incentive.

At a recent roundtable discussion with charity leaders, ministers welcomed the support from some of Britain’s biggest charities including Mind, Groundwork and the NSPCC. The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) will encourage their members to consider the opportunities offered by the scheme.

Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said:

‘We want to harness the experience from all sectors to make sure we get it right on youth unemployment. We want young people to enter the labour market with the skills, training and experience required to secure sustainable employment. But we can’t do this alone, that is why today we are meeting with voluntary sector organisations and welcoming them on board with the Youth Contract.’

NCVO Deputy Chief Executive Ben Kernighan said:

‘Addressing youth unemployment is one of the biggest challenges facing the country. I urge voluntary organisations to consider the opportunities that the youth contract may offer, including taking on apprentices, creating jobs supported by new wage subsidies and providing support to young people not in education, employment or training.’

Employers can register their interest in supporting the Youth Contract and can find out more via the DWP website.

Voluntary and community sector support Government’s Youth Contract
CJET - Citizen Journalism Educational Trust