2020 Judges

Children’s Judge

Anna Bassi is Editor-in-chief of the multi-award-winning children’s news magazine, The Week Junior.  Anna has been creating magazines for children for more than 25 years.  She has an in-depth understanding of what young readers engage with, and a commitment to providing brilliant, perfectly-pitched, trusted and age-appropriate content that keeps children –and their parents – coming back for more. In December 2018 Anna was presented with the Editors’ Editor Award by the British Society of Magazine Editors. She is currently directing the editorial team who will launch The Week Junior in the US in spring 2020.

Chair of the Journalism Judging Panel

William Crawley is a journalist and broadcaster with the BBC. He hosts the daily radio current affairs programme Talkback for the BBC in Northern Ireland, Sunday on BBC Radio 4, and regularly writes and presents documentaries for Radio 3, Radio 4, and the BBC World Service.  His television work – more than 40 documentaries and series – includes the landmark natural history series Blueprint, which now forms part of the Ulster Museum’s permanent collection; the interview series William Crawley Meets, in which he meets thought leaders from across the world; and a three-part autobiographical series documenting life in Northern Ireland.  He is Patron of the Belfast Film Festival; a recipient of the Eisenhower Fellowship; in 2012 he received an honorary Doctor of Literature (D.Lit.) degree from Queen’s University Belfast, for services to broadcasting; and in 2019 he was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Radio/Audio Judge

Felicity Finch is an actress, a features and documentary presenter, and journalist who has worked in both Afghanistan and Rwanda but she’s best known to the general public as “Ruth Archer” from BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Archers’.

Chair of the Children’s Judging Panel

Hayley Hassall is a presenter and producer at the BBC.  Currently the lead presenter for CBBC Newsround, she has jumped from a plane, swam with sharks and slept on the streets of London to bring the news and current affairs to children. She specialises in original journalism and has made award winning documentaries for younger audiences, including ‘Ruth’s Story’: following an unaccompanied refugee from Eritrea to the UK, ‘Natasha’s story’: retelling the story of a girl who was homeless in Manchester. Hayley also can be heard on Radio 4’s File on 4, and has worked for The One Show, Panorama and BBC Religious program Sunday Life.  Hayley has won a BAFTA, Two RTS awards and a Prize Europa, as well as being nominated for a Sanford St Martin award in 2018.

Children’s Judge

Kuljinder Khaila is the Executive Producer of the BBC Young Reporter journalism and media project which gives young people aged 11-18 the chance to create and share stories that matter to them.  As part of the scheme young people get the chance to work with BBC staff of all levels including reporters, producers, editors, journalists and engineers. Previously he edited Sunday Morning Live on BBC1.

TV/Video Judge

Jonathan Levi is a highly experienced multi award winning executive producer with experience in both unscripted and scripted television. Previous roles include Head of Arts and Popular Culture at ITV Studios, Executive Producer Renegade Pictures and Creative Director of Antenna Pictures. Jonathan is currently executive producer at Honey Bee TV.  His credits include Hatton Garden and Broadmoor for ITV.  He’s also worked on the critically acclaimed Transformation Street (ITV),  Ross Kemp and The Armed Police (ITV) Ewan McGreggor’s Cold Chain Mission (BBC2), Tulisa The Price of Fame (BBC3/BBC1) as well as Used Car Wars (Dave).  He is the author of the Sunday Times top 10 best seller and number 1 on Audible, Inside Broadmoor.

Radio/Audio Judge

Kenan Malik is a writer, lecturer, broadcaster and a regular columnist for The Observer. Trained in neurobiology and the history of science his latest book is The Quest for a Moral Compass: A Global History of Ethics.  You can find out more about writing, talks and photography on his website Pandaemonium.