17 Aug
2021
17 Aug
'21
12:53 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Aug. 17, 2021
Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ]
[
https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/benarnews-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-murrow-a…
| BenarNews -- an RFA Affiliate -- Wins Murrow Award for COVID Report ]
WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia (RFA) online affiliate [ https://www.benarnews.org/english |
BenarNews ] today was named a National Murrow Award winner by the [ https://www.rtdna.org/
| Radio Television Digital News Association ] (RTDNA) for its incisive journalism on the
impact of COVID-19 in Bangladesh -- one of the pandemic’s hardest-hit countries.
BenarNews’ “ [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1NMyHZHVpc | Bangladeshi volunteers help
bury 'abandoned' COVID dead ] ” won in the international juried competition’s
category for Small Digital News Organization.
“ For millions with little or no access to uncensored local news, RFA-affiliate BenarNews
is a crucial conduit for reliable, timely information ,” said Bay Fang, RFA President. “
This award is a testament to the vital role of responsible journalism, especially for
those around the globe struggling through the nightmare scenario of a deadly pandemic .”
" BenarNews Bengali has done outstanding work highlighting the heroism of regular
people during a crisis. Their compassion and their courage amid the pandemic’s uncertainty
are front and center in this report, for which our journalists deserve full credit, "
said BenarNews Managing Editor Kate Beddall.
BenarNews’ video was filmed in June 2020, shortly after the Bengali government reopened
the economy and mosques after a two-month nationwide lock-down. While putting their own
lives at risk, volunteers transported hundreds of bodies to burial sites, sometimes
travelling hundreds of miles to ancestral homes to honor the deceased. BenarNews used
Skype interviews and amateur footage to provide intimate coverage of people on the
frontlines of the pandemic. It provided a platform for them to tell their own stories,
too, inviting them to submit their own video while coaching them on respecting the privacy
of people around them. At the time, Bangladesh had nearly 100,000 confirmed cases of
COVID-19 and over 1,200 confirmed deaths. Today those numbers exceed 1.4 million and
24,000 respectively.
Despite its critical coverage, BenarNews’s website remains blocked by Bengali authorities
since April 2020, when the government [
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/bangladesh-media-04022020173… |
clamped down ] on the free-flow of information amid the pandemic. BenarNews provides
audiences in Southeast and South Asia with credible news, in context and clearly
explained, about security, politics, geopolitics and human rights. With home pages in
Bengali, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and English, BenarNews focuses on the big
picture, cross-border issues, and topics that are censored or overlooked. This year, RFA
joins NPR, ABC News, and CBS News Radio among others, as winners of the 2021 National
Murrow Awards.
# # #
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 United States Agency for Global Media.
Rohit Mahajan
Vice President of Communications and External Relations
Radio Free Asia