FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28,
2010
Contact:
John Estrella 202 530 4900 estrellaj@rfa.org
Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 mahajanr@rfa.org
Radio Free Asia
Wins Major Environmental Reporting Prize
Mekong River
series takes top honors
Washington,
DC – The Society of
Environmental Journalists today awarded Radio Free Asia (RFA) First Prize for
Outstanding Online Reporting on the Environment for its 2010 multimedia series
“The Last Untamed River.” The prize, in recognition of RFA’s investigative
reporting trek down the Mekong River, will be awarded in Missoula, Montana, on
Oct.13 at the SEJ’s 20th annual conference, the nonprofit
organization said.
“This
award is a tremendous honor,” RFA
President Libby Liu said. “We know from our listeners that the health of the
Mekong River is of paramount importance to their quality of life, and in some
cases, to their very existence.”
The
Mekong River—the least developed of the world’s major rivers—sustains more than
60 million people from the Tibetan plateau to the South China Sea.
RFA’s
series, with original reporting in English adapted into seven Asian languages,
comprises 22 high-quality videos, along with blogs, graphics, slideshows, and
other social media releases.
It
addresses climate change and melting glaciers, urbanization and
industrialization, the decline of forests and fisheries, and finally the
development of China’s dams and control over water flow, as seen by ordinary
citizens—from nomadic herders and fishermen—as well as regional experts and
analysts. RFA’s videographers traveled for nearly 3,000 miles along the Mekong
River from Tibet to Vietnam and the South China Sea.
RFA’s Mekong River series is online in English at www.rfa.org/english/multimedia/MekongProject.
# # #
Radio Free Asia is a
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information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do
not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to
promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom
to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the
Broadcasting Board of Governors.
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