Political Blogger Idol: Introducing the Final 5.

Last week Mamamia announced our mission to introduce fresh, new voices to Australia’s political landscape.

We’re sick of the same tired old reporting from Canberra; reporting which all too often focuses on political game playing over actual policies. And that assumes way more detailed knowledge of the reader than most of us have.

Since calling for entries to our inaugural Political Blogger Idol competition, Mamamia has been inundated with outstanding submissions from readers, bloggers and aspiring journalists.

We have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of entries and also the excellent standard we received. Mia, Jamila and the team would like to thank everyone who took the time to send us their writing.

The Mamamia Editorial Team had a very difficult job of whittling the entries down to only five finalists. So without further ado, we’re thrilled to introduce them to you. Each finalist’s submission is linked underneath their bio below. You can read their excellent political musings and vote for your favourite using the online form.

Please note that this is a one vote per device competition. Even if the form allows you to vote a second time, we will only count one vote per unique IP address. The finalist with the highest number of votes will be offered a retainer contract with Mamamia for the period of the election campaign and will be announced on the website next Monday.

Bonnie Campbell: A Bridget Jones’ Diary reference and we’re in. Bonnie uses clever pop culture references to pull some serious policy punches when it comes to the Government’s new asylum seeker policy. The judges liked that she pulled together strong opinion, backed up with solid research – while keeping the post interesting and engaging to a less politically interested reader. We all remember Kevin on Sunrise, right?

Click HERE to read Bonnie Campbell’s post Come on Kevin, where is the love?‘

Amy Stockwell: The judges loved the easy-to-understand manner in which Amy explained an incredibly complex set of policy issues. She avoids Canberra ‘in-speak’ and uses humour to convey her message to great effect. If you’re confused about the difference between a carbon tax and an emissions trading scheme and want to understand which party is promising what when it comes to environmental action – then this post is for you.

Click HERE to read Amy Stockwell’s post Carbon Tax versus ETS (in less than 5 minutes).

Scott Limbrick: Quality political satire is much harder to come by than it should be in Australia. And that’s exactly why the judges really enjoyed Scott’s piece, which is a great blend of wry political humour with a strong opinion about the use of Government advertising in the lead up to an election campaign. Scott skillfully takes on the voices of several politicians and political commentators in this post and his insights are hilarious. 

Click HERE to read Scott Limbrick’s post ‘“We used capital letters to really make the message hit home”.

3Girls, One Capital: This anonymous three blogger team from Canberra chose to look back over the political debate that has been, considering the treatment of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. They quote British feminist and comedian Caitlin Moran and bring a number of examples together to make their case that media coverage of Ms Gillard’s time in office was sexist. They also mount a pretty serious case against the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

Click HERE to read 3Girls, One Capital’s post Ask yourself: Would we ever have treated a man like this?

Luke Cooper: Luke’s submission stood out because it is, quite simply, excellent factual news coverage. Luke offers up a clear and thorough explanation of a significant shift in Government policy that occurred last week. He presents the facts, not with sweeping statements and outraged exclamations, but instead relying on his research to make his position clear. Luke’s thorough and well constructed post is compelling writing. 

Click HERE to read Luke Cooper’s post Is this really the be-all and end-all of asylum seeker policy?

Voting has now closed.

And the winner is…. Scott Limbrick!

A huge congratulations to Scott and all our finalists. Thanks to everyone who voted.