23 Apr
2012
23 Apr
'12
12:53 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2012
Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org>
mahajanr(a)rfa.org
Radio Free Asia Honored at Hong Kong Human Rights Press Awards
Human Trafficking Web Video Series, Cantonese Radio Report Recognized
WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia won two awards at the 16th annual Hong Kong
Human Rights Press Awards sponsored by the Foreign Correspondents Club,
Amnesty International, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association. RFA's
video documentary series on human trafficking in Asia won in the contest's
online content category and its Cantonese language story on the humiliation
of a Chinese rights advocate garnered a merit award in the radio broadcast
category.
"These hard-won awards reflect the commitment to the eye-opening journalism
RFA does on a daily basis," said Libby Liu, Radio Free Asia's president.
"Our reporting brings our audience closer to the truth, no matter how
difficult the subject matter or media environment in which RFA language
services operate."
RFA's online human trafficking series
<http://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/HumanTrafficking/Home.html> ,
representing the research and work of videographers spanning a year,
documents the advent of child soldier recruitment in Burma, labor abuses in
China's black factories, traffickers targeting refugee camps in Thailand,
and North Korean mothers being forcibly wed in China, among other instances
of trafficking. Drawing from in-country interviews with victims, NGO
representatives, and traffickers themselves, the videos tell the
first-person stories of trafficking that affects millions in Asia. Together,
the individual videos seek to go beyond the content's shock value to explore
the human subjects and complex factors that underpin trafficking in Asia,
namely, population displacement, poverty, ethnic discrimination, cultural
pressures, war, and government corruption, among other issues.
RFA Cantonese's reporter Grace Leung was honored at the event for her radio
story
<http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/china_dissident-09222011102801.html?encod
ing=simplified> on Hebei rights activist Xu Yishun who was jailed for one
and a half years in a re-education center for charges related to his plan to
visit the wife of then-jailed Shandong blind activist Chen Guangcheng. Xu
incurred mistreatment during his imprisonment and public humiliation upon
his release in September 2011 when he was discharged without adequate
clothing and his relatives were not allowed to pick him up at the prison
gates.
Other news organizations recognized at this year's event included South
China Morning Post, National Public Radio, International Herald Tribune, and
Time magazine, among other regional Hong Kong-based outlets. The winners
were named at an April 21 ceremony held at the Foreign Correspondents Club
in Hong Kong.
# # #
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.
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Rohit Mahajan
Media Relations Manager
Radio Free Asia
Email: mahajanr(a)rfa.org
Desk: (202) 530-4976
Cell: (202) 489-8021
www.rfa.org
