FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 27,
2010
Contact:
John Estrella 202 530 4900 estrellaj@rfa.org
Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 mahajanr@rfa.org
Radio
Free Asia Wins at 2010 New York Festivals
Services
Take Gold, Bronze, and Earn Finalist Slots
WASHINGTON, DC – Reporters from Radio Free
Asia’s Vietnamese Service and Burmese Service
won gold and bronze medals respectively at this year’s New York
Festivals. Both winning entries produced pieces exploring the issue of
human trafficking in Asia. Additionally, broadcasters from RFA’s
Mandarin and Korean services were named as finalists by the competition’s
judges.
“The honors bestowed on Radio Free
Asia at New York Festivals showcase the journalistic
excellence for which our news services consistently strive to achieve in some
of the world’s toughest media environments,” said
Libby Liu, President of RFA. “Two of our winners reported on the
trafficking of women and migrants in Asia, and we hope this recognition
underscores the need to continue informing our audience and the world about
this prevalent and nefarious issue.”
“We at RFA pledge to continue
bringing accurate, objective news to people living in Asian countries that
restrict and censor the press.”
Information about RFA’s winners
and finalists, and their entries follows.
·
Broadcaster Khanh An of RFA’s
Vietnamese service earned the top award in the category of Best Ongoing News
Story for her three-part series “A New Form of Women Trafficking.”
The series, which aired in March 2010, documented an incident of a Vietnamese
woman being trafficked to Europe. The series examined some of the local
factors and people and their roles in facilitating the woman’s victimization.
·
RFA Burmese reporter Kyaw Min Htun won a
bronze award in
the category of Best Coverage of Ongoing News Story for his stories on the
human trafficking of Burmese refugees and migrants in Malaysia, which aired
from January to May of this year. For his stories, the reporter
interviewed ethnic Rohingya migrants, seeking asylum in Malaysia after being
subjected to persecution in Burma. Many, however, once in Malaysia, faced
exploitation by human-traffickers, abusive employers, and corrupt officials.
·
Park Songwu of RFA’s Korean
language service, was a finalist in the NYF category of Best Human Interest
Story for his four-part series on North Korea’s youngest defectors. The
series focused on the difficulties and challenges these individuals face once
living in South Korea.
·
RFA Mandarin’s Tang Qiwei was also
a finalist in the NYF History category for her piece on the 20th
anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, which aired on June 4,
2009. The short audio documentary, which was edited by Feng Xiaoming,
used interviews with many leaders, activists, and officials involved with or
connected to the Beijing student-led demonstrations.
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Radio
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Rohit
Mahajan
Media
Relations Manager
Radio
Free Asia
Desk:
(202) 530-4976
Cell:
(202) 489-8021
Email:
mahajanr@rfa.org