RT WINS ABU PRIZE FOR NEWS REPORTING
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 25, 2016 – RT received its first ABU Prize – a prestigious industry award presented by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union – for its feature story about the plight of an Afghan interpreter and former British Army contractor.
RT’s work was recognized for its news feature “Will He Ever Get Across The Channel?” which focuses on a personal story of an Afghan interpreter named Khushal (Happy), who once worked for the British forces in Afghanistan. It was awarded the ABU Prize in the “News Reporting” category.
After being threatened by the Taliban at home in Afghanistan, Khushal applied for the British government’s former interpreters’ special visa program. His application, however, was left unanswered, forcing him to enter Great Britain illegally. The migrant camp in Calais, France was his last stop before crossing to the UK.
“[Khushal’s] journey from Afghanistan to the UK border took nine months. Khushal had to make his way through the Middle East, cross the Mediterranean, and travel across several European countries before he found himself in Calais”, says the author of the story, RT UK correspondent Polina Boiko. “The Afghan interpreter we followed for this journey eventually made it to Britain. I like to think that by highlighting his plight, we helped him make that journey. This story encapsulates both the immense team effort that is required to produce a gripping news report, and then, the impact it can create”.
Story by: correspondent Polly Boiko, cameraman Adam Apostol.
RT is the only Russian TV channel to become a four-time finalist of the International Emmy Award in the Current Affairs and News category. It received its fourth nomination in August 2016 for producing a series of special reports covering the 70th session of the UN General Assembly. Earlier this year, RT also won seven Lovie Awards (known as Europe’s “Oscars” for Web-based media) and took the People’s Voice Award at the prestigious Webby Awards, garnering user support ahead of BBC News, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, and the New York Times. RT holds multiple medals from the New York Festivals. It received four NYF awards in 2015 alone. Earlier, RT’s documentary team took gold for the North Caucasus-focused documentary “Blood and Honour,” beating a CNN production to the prize, while Julian Assange’s talk show on RT received the Silver World Medal in the Politics category.
The ABU Prizes were established in 1964 by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, a non-profit, professional association that includes more than 280 broadcasters from 69 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. The ABU is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
