Amnesty Award Wins for Channel 4 and More4

25 May 2011

Channel 4 News and More 4's True Stories strand, which showcases the best of international feature documentaries, both won awards at the Amnesty International Awards ceremony last night.

The coveted awards recognise excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledge journalism's significant contribution to the public's awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

Channel 4 News won the Television News Award for reports investigating the possibility that war crimes were committed in Sri Lanka in the closing weeks of the civil war in 2009. The Sri Lanka entry comprised a report into internment camps that saw Nick Paton Walsh deported from the country, the airing of a video purporting to show Tamil soldiers being executed, and the eventual UN verdict that authenticated that video.

 

 

Deputy Foreign Editor Tim Lambon collected the award on behalf of the team (Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller, pictured, Foreign Affairs Editor Ben De Pear, Girish Juneja, Sarah Corp and Nevine Mabro) which recognised the collective efforts of the Channel 4 News team, and fixers on the ground in making the coverage possible.

Jamal Osman was recognised as an emerging new talent in human rights reporting for his work for Channel 4 News. He picked up the Gaby Rado award for journalists who have been pursuing this area of journalism for less than five years. In particular, his work exposing the 'cash for aid' scandal behind the World Food Programme in Somalia was recognised. 

More 4's True Stories film, The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan scooped the Documentary Award.  The film revealed how the tradition known as Bacha Bazi, literally `boy play', which was banned by the Taliban, is spreading through the country and exploiting the desperation of many poverty stricken children. Young boys are lured from the streets with the promise of a new life as singers and dancers for former warlords and businessman. But as well as being trained, they are traded for sexual favours and subjected to abuse, rape and sometimes even murder. Reporter Najibullah Qureshi who gained extraordinary access to the boys and their masters collected the award along with director Jamie Doran, Mike Healy and John Moffat.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: "This was the 20th year of our awards and it was a vintage year for human rights journalism.

"With entries of the highest calibre in category after category it was a hard job for our judges to pick the winners. The awards are fantastic tribute to some of the best journalists in the trade. Well done to all the winners, those that were shortlisted and everyone that tries to expose human rights abuses through their journalism. It's a vital job and we pay tribute to you."

The awards ceremony included a recorded video message from Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke of the, "great importance" of the media in "promoting the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma", adding that it is "through the media that the rest of the world gets to hear about what we have to undergo in this country." She urged journalists to "continue to make as many people around the globe know about what we are struggling for in Burma and what that struggle involves."

 

Channel 4 News and More 4's True Stories strand, which showcases the best of international feature documentaries, both won awards at the Amnesty International Awards ceremony last night.

The coveted awards recognise excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledge journalism's significant contribution to the public's awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

Channel 4 News won the Television News Award for reports investigating the possibility that war crimes were committed in Sri Lanka in the closing weeks of the civil war in 2009. The Sri Lanka entry comprised a report into internment camps that saw Nick Paton Walsh deported from the country, the airing of a video purporting to show Tamil soldiers being executed, and the eventual UN verdict that authenticated that video.

 

 

Deputy Foreign Editor Tim Lambon collected the award on behalf of the team (Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller, pictured, Foreign Affairs Editor Ben De Pear, Girish Juneja, Sarah Corp and Nevine Mabro) which recognised the collective efforts of the Channel 4 News team, and fixers on the ground in making the coverage possible.

Jamal Osman was recognised as an emerging new talent in human rights reporting for his work for Channel 4 News. He picked up the Gaby Rado award for journalists who have been pursuing this area of journalism for less than five years. In particular, his work exposing the 'cash for aid' scandal behind the World Food Programme in Somalia was recognised. 

More 4's True Stories film, The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan scooped the Documentary Award.  The film revealed how the tradition known as Bacha Bazi, literally `boy play', which was banned by the Taliban, is spreading through the country and exploiting the desperation of many poverty stricken children. Young boys are lured from the streets with the promise of a new life as singers and dancers for former warlords and businessman. But as well as being trained, they are traded for sexual favours and subjected to abuse, rape and sometimes even murder. Reporter Najibullah Qureshi who gained extraordinary access to the boys and their masters collected the award along with director Jamie Doran, Mike Healy and John Moffat.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: "This was the 20th year of our awards and it was a vintage year for human rights journalism.

"With entries of the highest calibre in category after category it was a hard job for our judges to pick the winners. The awards are fantastic tribute to some of the best journalists in the trade. Well done to all the winners, those that were shortlisted and everyone that tries to expose human rights abuses through their journalism. It's a vital job and we pay tribute to you."

The awards ceremony included a recorded video message from Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke of the, "great importance" of the media in "promoting the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma", adding that it is "through the media that the rest of the world gets to hear about what we have to undergo in this country." She urged journalists to "continue to make as many people around the globe know about what we are struggling for in Burma and what that struggle involves."

 

Channel 4 News and More 4's True Stories strand, which showcases the best of international feature documentaries, both won awards at the Amnesty International Awards ceremony last night.

The coveted awards recognise excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledge journalism's significant contribution to the public's awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

Channel 4 News won the Television News Award for reports investigating the possibility that war crimes were committed in Sri Lanka in the closing weeks of the civil war in 2009. The Sri Lanka entry comprised a report into internment camps that saw Nick Paton Walsh deported from the country, the airing of a video purporting to show Tamil soldiers being executed, and the eventual UN verdict that authenticated that video.

 

 

Deputy Foreign Editor Tim Lambon collected the award on behalf of the team (Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller, pictured, Foreign Affairs Editor Ben De Pear, Girish Juneja, Sarah Corp and Nevine Mabro) which recognised the collective efforts of the Channel 4 News team, and fixers on the ground in making the coverage possible.

Jamal Osman was recognised as an emerging new talent in human rights reporting for his work for Channel 4 News. He picked up the Gaby Rado award for journalists who have been pursuing this area of journalism for less than five years. In particular, his work exposing the 'cash for aid' scandal behind the World Food Programme in Somalia was recognised. 

More 4's True Stories film, The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan scooped the Documentary Award.  The film revealed how the tradition known as Bacha Bazi, literally `boy play', which was banned by the Taliban, is spreading through the country and exploiting the desperation of many poverty stricken children. Young boys are lured from the streets with the promise of a new life as singers and dancers for former warlords and businessman. But as well as being trained, they are traded for sexual favours and subjected to abuse, rape and sometimes even murder. Reporter Najibullah Qureshi who gained extraordinary access to the boys and their masters collected the award along with director Jamie Doran, Mike Healy and John Moffat.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: "This was the 20th year of our awards and it was a vintage year for human rights journalism.

"With entries of the highest calibre in category after category it was a hard job for our judges to pick the winners. The awards are fantastic tribute to some of the best journalists in the trade. Well done to all the winners, those that were shortlisted and everyone that tries to expose human rights abuses through their journalism. It's a vital job and we pay tribute to you."

The awards ceremony included a recorded video message from Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke of the, "great importance" of the media in "promoting the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma", adding that it is "through the media that the rest of the world gets to hear about what we have to undergo in this country." She urged journalists to "continue to make as many people around the globe know about what we are struggling for in Burma and what that struggle involves."