Welsh Politico Blog Awards: The Results
YOU lucky people. It’s the moment you’ve all thought might never arrive – the winner of the Welsh Politico blog awards. As regular Hearth readers will know, the aim of the awards is to identify the best blog posts of 2009 and to once more award three highly prestigious online baubles which permit the recipients to wear them as medals of pride or badges of shame on their websites. They depict Owain Glyndwr fighting for the freedom to publish online whatever you bloggers decide to share as well as for a free and independent Wales.
The judges who gave of their time, their souls and their passions were:
We all had 3 votes – 1,2,3 points respectively. We allocated these points to our top 3 of the shortlist, giving our favourite post 3 points etc. And when everything was clocked up the winners were, with 11, 10 and 9 points respectively…
Triumph of the mighty Betsan
Betsan Powys
First Minister’s Statement
Praised by several of the judges for an authentic and time-sensitive account of the day One Wales nearly died. The title was a bit boring though – be more imaginative, Betsan!
A young upstart almost takes the crown from the seasoned professional
Politicians, parochialism and populism
Jeremy Townsend’s contribution to one of the most interesting new Welsh blogs this year achieved a rare thing – it migrated into the mainstream media. Instant notoriety for a Lib Dem policy wonk locking horns with the great and good of Plaid.
An honourable third in a tight three horse race
Syniadau
Referendum ball is in Labour’s court
A well argued piece that is testament to another new blog, and one which gathered three nominations in our top twenty. Some judges particularly praised this new blog as a breath of fresh air.
This is also the second piece in the top three dealing with the referendum. Expect more of the same in 2010, I think.
Thanks again for the nominations, thanks to the judges for their time, and to all the Welsh bloggers who give so much and get only a lack of comments, abuse and sarcasm in return. One day you too could win a badge for your homepage. So keep at it.
And to the winners – well done all three of you. Your baubles will shortly be on the way to you through the ether. Don’t eat them all at once.
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Congrats to the three deserving winners, and also to you Daran for making it all happen.
Well, we admire and certainly read whatever Syniadau has to say.
Maybe, one day, we will write a blog post that deserves such prestigious attention and an award (but somehow I doubt it).
I think morale amongst Welsh political bloggers could also be boosted if there were to be a proper award ceremony and dinner similar to the Irish Blog Awards held last year in Dublin and which was a roaring (drunken) success. I’m sure a suitable sponsor could be found. What do you think?
Thanks are due to Simon for inventing the awards. I’m sure it will go from strength to strength and be a worthy accolade for those brave and talented individuals who uphold the Welsh political blogosphere.
I like Cambria’s suggestion and am always available for “a roaring (drunken) success” events!
Big congrats to all the winners and to Simon for being the inspiration behind the event
Just to add a further suggestion for next time.
As well as an award for the best individual post I think it would be an idea to award a prize for the best blog or blogger overall. While Betsan’s posting was my first choice, I would also have liked a way of recognising the consistently high standards of ‘Syniadau’ who would have won my vote for best political blog(ger) of 2009 (pipping Vaughan Roderick who would have been runaway winner in 2007 and 2008.)
Thank you for your kind words, and thanks to those who considered my post good enough to nominate and good enough to win a prize. I am humbled and honoured.
I have to say that I am a little uncomfortable with badges and prizes, so I’m not sure about displaying the logo, in just the same way as I haven’t displayed the Total Politics ranking. But I wouldn’t want that to convey the impression that I don’t value your high opinions of the blog.
Wales has come a long way in the ten years since devolution, and of course I want us to decide to go much further. Informed opinion and debate is key to that, and I regard Syniadau as just a small part of something much larger. I only hope it inspires and encourages others to engage in the political process both on the internet and on the ground.
MH – “I have to say that I am a little uncomfortable with badges and prizes, so I’m not sure about displaying the logo, in just the same way as I haven’t displayed the Total Politics ranking.”
Fair nuff. Bet Betsan doesn’t either – BBC rules and all that. It was straight up on Freedom Central though
Congratulations to the winners, but also to all of the submissions. I think it is an encouraging sign to see such a wide range of informed opinion. Moreover, a particular shout out to MH for his very detailed analysis!