Africa in focus at One World Media Awards

One World Media, now in its 28th year of celebrating journalistic excellence in international media coverage of the developing world, announced the winners of the annual One World Media Awards.

Hosted this year by Sky’s Alex Crawford, the prestigious One World Media Awards took place at BAFTA and saw some of the world’s finest journalists, reporters and filmmakers - past, present and future - gather to celebrate the industry’s achievements.

Focused on highlighting the vital role journalists and filmmakers have in increasing cultural understanding and supporting equality and justice worldwide, the One World Media Awards have set an industry gold standard for media professionals reporting in, on and from the developing world, throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and the post-Soviet states.

This year, the Awards saw 13 nominees, and four winners out of 15 categories, focused on stories across Africa. Winners were awarded the Refugee Reporting Award, Women’s Rights in Africa Award, Popular Features Award and the Television Award:

Television Award

Outbreak: The Truth About Ebola

Director: Dan Edge

Broadcast on: BBC

Country: West Africa

Synopsis: The inside story of how and why the worst Ebola outbreak in history wasn't stopped before it was too late. Award-winning filmmaker Dan Edge traces the roots of the outbreak back to the jungles of Guinea and tracks down key witnesses and survivors responsible for its spread across West Africa. They include the father of Patient Zero, the child who was believed to be the first person to die in the outbreak, as well as a young woman considered to be among the first to bring Ebola across the border from Guinea to Sierra Leone. The film includes revelatory interviews and candid admissions of failure from key government officials and those responsible for the woeful international response to the disaster. From the jungles of Guinea to the slums of Monrovia, the film exposes tragic missteps in the response to the epidemic. It's a real-life disaster movie that sounds a warning: the world is not safe from future epidemics.

Popular Features Award

The Tribe - episode 3

TV Doc Broadcast on: Channel 4

Country: Ethiopia

Synopsis: In a television first, Channel 4 was granted access by a rural Ethiopian tribe to capture their life as never seen before using fixed-rig cameras. Part of the 20,000-strong Hamar tribe living in the Omo region of Southern Ethiopia, one family, known to their friends and neighbours as the Ayke Mukos, have allowed Channel  4 to film their day to day life. The series presents an intimate and uniquely authentic portrayal of tribal family life.

Refugee Reporting Award

Thousands Flee Isolated Eritrea to Escape Life of Conscription & Poverty

Article published in: Wall Street Journal

Reporters: Matina Stevis and Joe Parkinson

Countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia

Synopsis:  Matina Stevis and Joe Parkinson secured exclusive access to Eritrean refugee camps in the Tigray region of Ethiopia where they interviewed more than a dozen refugees. This exclusive front page report and digital package offered a rare look inside one of the world’s most secretive dictatorships. The article – reported over two months after a year’s preparation – offered fresh evidence that conditions in Eritrea are not in fact improving. The story made a huge impact. Stevis has been called to testify as an expert witness in the case of an Eritrean refugee in the UK which will instruct UK immigration policy towards Eritrean asylum seekers.

Women’s Rights In Africa Award

On Assignment: Vicky's Story

Documentary broadcast on: ITV

Reporter: John Ray ITV News Africa Correspondent

Country: South Africa

Synopsis: Vicky was something of a visionary. Her's was a one-woman mission to open to tourism, one of the toughest places in South Africa. And unlikely as it might sound, she was succeeding. She opened a bed and breakfast in the impoverished township of Khayetlisha, but her dream died brutally in November 2012. She was stabbed to death in her own bedroom; a victim, her family believe, of her own success. Her husband was convicted of her killing and has never explained why he did it, but envy of his wife’s achievements seems the likeliest motive. A truly shocking part of Vicky’s story is that in South Africa, the murder of a woman by her husband or partner isn’t shocking at all. It’s routine. John Ray’s extraordinary film was a collaboration between ITV in Assignment and independent filmmaker Paul Martin.

Clothilde Redfern, Director of One World Media said: “The Awards entries each year are in many cases a reflection of the global news agenda. Many people think of the developing world only in terms of disasters, emergencies and, in the case of the past year, terrorism. But the beauty of the Awards is that we see another side to developing countries around the world, with some amazing and inspiring stories of bravery, hope and a commitment to revealing the truth behind the facades we often see.”

One World Media is a non-profit organisation that supports international journalism and promotes media coverage of global issues. For nearly three decades, they have been working with partners in the UK and internationally to enable media that informs and connects the world’s people. One World Media’s mission is to support strong vibrant and independent media that empowers citizens, promotes justice and contributes to international development.

* Further information about the One World Media Awards is available at:

http://www.oneworldmedia.org.uk/awards

Full List of Award Winners:

Television Documentary Award – sponsored by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Outbreak: The Truth About Ebola, BBC Two / This World strand

The inside story of how and why the worst Ebola outbreak in history wasn't stopped before it was too late.

Feature Documentary Award – sponsored by Bertha Foundation

Tell Spring Not To Come This Year, Dir. Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy

This film follows a unit of the Afghan National Army over the course of their first year fighting in Helmand. Without a foreign soldier in sight and no narrative but their own, this is the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of the Afghans who live it.

Radio Award

A New Life in Europe: The Dhnie Family, Manveen Rana for BBC Radio 4

The story of one Syrian family heading for Europe in search of a better life. Manveen Rana documents the twists and turns of their journey as refugees from Jordan to the EU in a series of reports for BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.

News Award

From Syria to Safety, Alex Crawford for Sky News

Alex manages to document what every other journalist wanted to do but didn’t – the highly dangerous and long boat trip to Europe, alongside the desperate people risking it all.

Corruption Reporting Award – sponsored by Transparency International

Brazil versus Sleaze, Bridget Harney & Linda Pressly for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service

Linda Pressly explores the impact of Lidiane Leite’s alleged graft on one small community in Bom Jardim. For the last five decades, its political landscape has been dominated by just one powerful family – the Sarneys.

New Voice Award

Sune Engel Rasmussen, Based in: Kabul, Afghanistan

Sune Engel Rasmussen lives in Kabul where he works as a freelance print and multimedia journalist. His work has appeared in a broad range of international media, including The Economist, The New Republic, the BBC, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Atlantic and Al Monitor.

Women’s Rights in Africa Award – sponsored by African Development Bank

On Assignment: Vicky's Story, John Ray, ITV News Africa Correspondent

This report follows the story of one woman’s journey to success, which led to her being stabbed to death by her husband. A truly shocking part of Vicky’s story is that in South Africa the murder of a woman by her husband or partner isn’t shocking at all. It’s routine.

Popular Features Award

The Tribe - episode 3, Channel 4

In a television first, part of the 20,000-strong Hamar tribe living in the Omo region of Southern Ethiopia, one family, known to their friends and neighbours as the Ayke Mukos, have allowed Channel 4 to film their day to day life.

International Journalist of the Year Award

Erika Solomon, Financial Times

After two years’ reporting on Isis, Financial Times Middle East correspondent Erika Solomon spent weeks interviewing former Isis fighters and officials. Her revelations provide the most comprehensive portrait of how the group manages to keep making money – from its oil revenue to its carefully managed system of tax and confiscation. Aged just 30, Solomon writes with the authority and insight of the most seasoned and respected correspondents.

Digital Media Award – sponsored by Google

Mekong: A River Rising, John Vidal for theguardian.com

The fate of 70 million people rests on what happens to the Mekong River. Guardian journalist John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway, where he meets people struggling to deal with the ecological havoc created by giant dams, deforestation, coastal erosion and fast-growing cities.

Refugee Reporting Award – sponsored by British Red Cross

Thousands Flee Isolated Eritrea to Escape Life of Conscription & Poverty, Matina Stevis and Joe Parkinson for Wall Street Journal

This exclusive front-page report and digital package offered a rare look inside one of the world’s most secretive dictatorships. The story made a huge impact. Stevis has been called to testify as an expert witness in the case of an Eritrean refugee in the UK, which will instruct UK immigration policy towards Eritrean asylum seekers.

Press Award

Syria's Truth Smugglers, Julian Borger for The Observer

This article tells for the first time the full story of the handful of Syrian men and women who risked their lives to get a damning archive out of Syria. Borger was the first journalist allowed to go into the region and meet the chief Syrian investigator, whose identity remains a closely guarded secret.

Short Film Award

El Salvador: ‘I had a miscarriage. The judge accused me of murder', Irene Baqué, Jordi Ruiz Cirera, Alex Purcell, Pascal Wyse, Claudine Spera, Liz Ford for theguardian.com

This film hears from women who have fallen foul of El Salvador’s punitive anti-abortion law and are either serving time or have completed a prison sentence. They describe the torment of life behind bars and reveal how their lives have been altered forever.

Student Award

Limpiadores, Fernando Luis González Mitjáns – from Cuba for University College London

Limpiadores captures the life and struggles of the invisible migrant workers that make sure offices and classrooms are clean and tidy before professors and students arrive for their morning classes at some of London’s most prestigious universities.

Special Award – sponsored by CNN

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently

RBSS is an underground network of Syrian citizen journalists with the stated aim of exposing “…the atrocities committed by terrorist extremist group ISIS”. From the rise of ISIS through to today, they have, at great personal risk, used their website and social media profile to report what life is like for ordinary Syrians surviving under the brutal regime of the Islamic State.