7 Nov
2013
7 Nov
'13
10:03 a.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 7, 2013
Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org>
mahajanr(a)rfa.org
Radio Free Asia Wins at AIBs for Tiananmen e-Book
WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) last night
won a top award for its e-book on the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 in
the category of innovative production technology at this year's
International Media Excellence Awards, held by the Association of
International Broadcasters (AIB). The award was announced at a ceremony,
also known as the AIBs, in London.
"This award puts a spotlight on an event that Chinese censors have attempted
to blot out in the mainland for more than 24 years," said Libby Liu,
President of RFA. "This recognition also underscores Radio Free Asia's hard
work getting accurate news in difficult media environments.
"Radio Free Asia is thrilled to be honored this year at the AIBs among some
of the world's greatest journalists and news organizations."
Marking the 24th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators in Beijing, RFA-in close collaboration with the Broadcasting
Board of Governors' Office of Digital and Design Innovation
<http://www.innovation-series.com/> (ODDI)-launched Remembering Tiananmen
<http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> , an interactive e-book in Mandarin
and English, in June of this year. Consisting of multimedia content and
eyewitness accounts, the digital-format publication recounts the
demonstrations and eventual dead-of-night crackdown near Tiananmen Square
that left an unknown number of people dead in China's capital.
The e-book comprises rare video footage, audio recordings, photographs, and
a timeline of events, as well as a detailed account by RFA Executive Editor
Dan Southerland, then the Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, who
covered the events on the ground with a team of reporters. Also included are
interviews with surviving student leaders who discuss the demonstrations
that began in mid-April and grew to about a million people in May. The
publication's section titled "Where Are They Now?" focuses on the lives of
these student leaders and other central figures since the 1989 crackdown.
The English version is available to iPad users. The Mandarin version is
available in all e-book formats: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, and iPad.
Other winners this year at the AIBs include RFA's sister broadcaster, Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty, CNN, BBC World Service, BBC Persian, Channel 4,
Radio Taiwan International, and ChannelNews Asia.
# # #
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and
publishing online news, 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.
Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Media Relations Manager
<mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M:
202.489.8021
