Tag Archives: Iraq

Royal Television Society journalism award winners in full

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As Tony Burman predicted, the ‘news channel of the year’ award at last night’s Royal Television Society awards didn’t go to Al Jazeera. Instead, it went to the BBC – who did rather well on the night in several categories. Here’s the full list, with the judges’ comments:

Young Journalist of the year: Hannah Thomas-Peter – Sky News
“A combination of fantastic access and great insight has enabled our winner to help transform health coverage on Sky News.”
Nominees: Joe Crowley – Inside Out BBC South / Kate Taunton – Channel 4 News ITN for Channel 4 News

Nations and Regions Current Affairs: The Story of Michael Barnett – Inside Out BBC Yorkshire
“A powerful programme with a sure touch…with the confidence to let the story tell itself.”
Nominees: A Friend in Need – Focus ITV Meridian / Meat Hygiene – Week In Week Out Special BBC Wales

Nations and Regions News Coverage: Weston Pier Fire – The West Tonight ITV West for ITV1
“… comprehensive, engaging and professionally presented.  It had outstanding pictures and a real sense of an event which affected the whole community.”
Nominees: Boris’s Deputy – Ray Lewis Investigation BBC London News / The Darwin Trial North East Tonight for ITV1

Scoop of the Year: HBOS/Lloyds TSB Merger BBC News Channel
“… indeed ‘an extraordinary exclusive’ which heralded the extraordinary changes in the British banking system.”
Nominees: China – The Moment the Earth Shook ITV News / Canoe Man – Gerard Tubb Sky News

Presenter of the Year: Jon Snow – Channel 4 News ITN for Channel 4 News
“…yet another superb year, whether it was in the studio – interrogating politicians and bankers – or out in the field – from the Middle East to the United States. One jury member said ‘he’s just brilliant. There’s nothing more to say.'”
Nominees: Kay Burley – Sky News Sky News / Andrew Neil – BBC News

News Coverage – Home: The British Banking Crisis BBC News
“The winning entry started with a scoop of the first order and followed it with reportage and explanation of the highest quality. It was without doubt the story of the year and showed BBC News at its very best.”
Nominees: Ipswich – Guilty ITV News / Heathrow Crash BBC News

News Coverage – International: Congo Crisis ITN for Channel 4 News
“Top class coverage of a consistently high standard… It was totally comprehensive, enterprising and managed brilliantly to use small individual stories to explain the bigger picture.”
Nominees: China – The Earthquake ITV News / Conflict in the Caucasus – Newsnight BBC Newsnight for BBC Two

News Channel of the Year: BBC News Channel
“The winning news channeldelivered a fantastic series of scoops on the story of the year. It was a channel you had to watch to keep abreast of the breaking economic news.”
Nominees: Al Jazeera English News Al Jazeera English News / Sky News Sky News

Current Affairs – Home: Primark: On the Rack – Panorama BBC for BBC One
“… not only an engaging watch but… thorough and also went the extra mile to lay bare the whole chain from refugee camp to the High Street rail.”
Nominees: Omagh: What The Police Were Never Told – Panorama BBC for BBC One / The Secret Peacemaker BBC for BBC Two

Current Affairs – International: Undercover in Tibet – Dispatches True Vision for Channel 4 Television
“…a truly great current affairs film that sheds light on the future. Filmed just months before Tibet erupted into rioting, this extraordinarily brave programme, made at great personal risk and with much hardship, illuminated the tensions and troubles of the country, with powerful testimony and pictures.”
Nominees: Britain’s Most Wanted – This World Mentorn Media for BBC for BBC Two / Iraq’s Lost Generation – Dispatches Hardcash for Channel 4 Television

Innovative News: 10 Days to War – Newsnight BBC Newsnight for BBC Two
“The winning series harnessed everything from drama documentary to a special website to re-examine events leading to the Iraq war in 2003. The jury saw this as a brave and successful venture to capture a new and younger audience.”
Nominees: Unplugged Sky News / On The Frontline – Afghan Headcams ITV News

Specialist Journalist of the Year: Robert Peston – BBC News
“One journalist dominated this year’s specialist category.  [He] owned the story of the Credit Crunch and its impact on the whole economy.”
Nominees: Faisal Islam – Channel 4 News/ Channel 4 News at Noon ITN for Channel 4 News / Jason Farrell – Five News Sky News for Five News

News Programme of the Year: BBC News at Ten BBC News for BBC One
“In a vintage year for news output, this programme shone through. The jury felt it had led the way on a wide range of major stories and the experience and quality of its leading correspondents had simply been unmatched anywhere else. It had triumphed on the big story of the year but had supported that with first-class reporting throughout.”
Nominees: Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky Sky News for Five News / News at Ten ITV News

Camera Operator of the Year: Garwen McLuckie – Sky News Sky News
“The winner’s work in Africa was fearless and showed a remarkable empathy for the problems faced by people across the continent. His story-telling was impressive and his work demonstrated immense personal bravery and the highest technical skills.”
Nominees: Raul Gallego Abellan – Associated Press Television News Associated Press Television News / Stuart Webb – Channel 4 News ITN for Channel 4 News

Television Journalist of the Year: Robert Peston – BBC News
“The winning correspondent produced probably the most sustained run of scoops and exclusives in the history of broadcast news in the UK… It would not be an exaggeration to say that a large part of the nation hung on the winner’s words every night – he personally revived appointment-to-view.”
Nominees: Martin Geissler – Africa Correspondent ITV News / Emma Hurd – Sky News Sky News

Lifetime Achievement Award: Peter Wilkinson
“This year’s winner is, for the first time, a cameraman.  He is not a household name – but you will all recognise his work. Many of the defining moments of our era have been captured through his lens, and he is one of the true pioneers of his trade.”

Judges Awards: Zimbabwe News Teams
“[This year’s Judges’ Award] recognises and salutes the work of a disparate collection of journalists, cameramen, producers and others who work under the radar, who have helped the outside world to report and understand a major international story that would otherwise have remained largely hidden from view.”

Gold Medal: Stewart Purvis
“[The Gold Medal goes] to someone whose name may not be widely known by the public but who has influenced, directly or indirectly, virtually everything we’ve seen on screen tonight. He is, without doubt, one of the makers of modern television news.

Journalists killed worldwide – an online list from WAN

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70 journalists were killed worldwide in 2008, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), said in a release today. The journalists and other media employees were killed worldwide ‘because of their professional activities in 2008, with the conflict in Iraq continuing to be the most deadly assignment for journalists’ the release said.

WAN said that several press freedom organisations track the number of journalists killed each year. “The numbers vary based on the criteria used by different associations. WAN’s figures include all media workers killed in the line of duty or targeted because of their work. It also includes cases where the motive for the killings is unsure or where official investigations have not been completed,” the release explained.

NYTimes.com: Iraqi PM pledges plots of land to thousands of journalists

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“At a recent meeting with the Iraqi journalists’ union, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki made a pledge that would have scandalised the Iraqis’ American counterparts: the government would give plots of land to thousands of journalists, for a nominal price or possibly even free,” the New York Times reports. Full story…

Rebekah Wade’s first public speech in full

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If the Wordle and other coverage isn’t enough, here’s the Hugh Cudlipp speech by the editor of the Sun, Rebekah Wade, in full [note: may have differed very slightly in actual delivery]:

The challenging future of national and regional newspapers is now the staple diet of media commentators.

If you have been reading the press writing about the press you’d all be forgiven for questioning your choice of career.

I’m not denying we’re in a tough place – we are.

But I don’t want to use this speech to make grand statements on the future of our industry.

I want to talk to you about journalism.

Continue reading →

BBC’s Nick Robinson admits he toed government line on Iraq too strongly

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Yesterday saw the BBC’s economic editor Robert Peston taken to task for his influence on the UK’s economy and his cosy relationship with the government:

The Guardian’s Matthew Weaver is worried that his blog might have too much influence, and the Daily Mash joked that Peston had reached a state of transcendence.

Meanwhile the House of Lords Communications Committee asked a panel of leading political journalists if they thought Peston was setting the reporting agenda.

Another BBC editor whose influence has been much discussed is the corporation’s political editor, Nick Robinson, who last night admitted he had toed the government line too strongly during his reportage of the Iraq War, and admitted that he didn’t ‘do enough’ to seek out dissenting views.

Participating in a debate entitled ‘Political campaigners and reporters: partners in democracy or rats in a sack?’ at City University, Robinson said: “The biggest self criticism I have was I got too close to government in the reporting of the Iraq war.

“I didn’t do enough to go away and say ‘well hold on, what about the other side?’

“It is the one moment in my recent career where I have thought I didn’t push hard enough, I didn’t question enough and I should have been more careful,” he said.

“I don’t think the government did set out to lie about weapons of mass destruction. I do think they systematically and cumulatively misled people. What’s the distinction?

“It was clear to me that Alastair Campbell knew how what he was saying was being reported, knew that that was a long way from the truth and was content for it so to be,” Robinson said.

“They knew it was wrong, they wanted it to be wrong – they haven’t actually lied.”

Politicians ‘actively want to avoid a debate the public wants to have’, he said.

For example, he said, Labour was reluctant to debate the implications of a single European currency.

“[The government] wanted to limit the debate to being the five tests. It wanted to avoid divisions, it simply did not want to enter a political debate,” he said.

The Conservative Party are now doing the ‘exact same thing’, Robinson said.

“They don’t want a debate on whether they will tear up the Lisbon EU treaty, they don’t really want a debate about if they will put taxes up or down, or in what way.

“These are active decisions by politicians to keep you ill-informed, and it is our job as journalists to try to fight against that.”

It isn’t the job of a journalist to ‘pick a constant fight with people in power’, he said.

“I don’t see it as a badge of pride to have endless arguments with politicians, although with Peter Mandelson they usually are.”

Spanish websites claim top prizes at ONA awards

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ELPAIS.com and Soitu.es claimed the first general excellence awards for non-English language sites at the Online News Association (ONA) 2008 awards on Saturday.

Speaking of ElPais.com, the judges said the site was ‘a shining example of how traditional media can blossom in the digital arena.’

“On a bedrock of first-class journalism it has built a brilliant suite of infographics that are rich in information, yet easy to consume,” they added in a press statement.

‘Bearing Witness‘, Reuters multimedia coverage of fallout from the invasion of Iraq in 2003, took the best multimedia feature award in the large sites category, while Adrian Holovaty’s EveryBlock was awarded the prize for outstanding use of digital technology by a small site.

A full list of the winners across the 23 awards and comments from the judges is available through the ONA awards website, but are listed in brief below:

Knight award for public service – WashingtonPost.com, Fixing D.C. Schools

General excellence (small site)– ArmyTimes.com

General excellence (medium site) – LasVegasSun.com

General excellence (large site) – CNN.com

General excellence, non-English (small site) – Soitu.es

General excellence, non-English (large site) – ELPAIS.com

Breaking news (medium site) – STLtoday.com, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kirkwood shootings

Breaking news (large site) – NYTimes.com, Eliot Spitzer’s resignation

Investigative journalism (small site) – RecordOnline.com, The Times Herald Record (Middletown, N.Y.) “I Didn’t Do That Murder”: Lebrew Jones and the death of Micki Hall

Investigative journalism, (large site) – DallasNews.com, The Dallas Morning News, Unequal Justice, and The Globe and Mail, Talking to the Taliban

Multimedia feature (small site) – GEO.fr, Hidden World

Multimedia feature (medium sites) – STLtoday.com, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Reporting for Duty

Multimedia feature (large site) – Reuters.com, Bearing Witness

Online commentary (small site) – Mark Fiore, MarkFiore.com, animated political cartoons

Online commentary (medium site) – The Bottom Line, DallasNews.com, The Dallas Morning News

Online commentary (large site) – God-O-Meter, Beliefnet.com

Online video presentation – OregonLive.com, The Oregonian, Living to the End

Outstanding use of digital technology (small site) – Everyblock.com

Outstanding use of digital technology (large site) – DesMoinesRegister.com, Iowa Caucuses

Specialty site journalism – WebMD

Student journalism – University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill & Universidad de los Andes, South of Here, and Taylor Hayden, Western Kentucky University, Closer to Home: A Daughter Becomes Caregiver

Topical reporting (small sites) – Azstarnet.com, Arizona Daily Star, Immigration in the Spotlight

Topical reporting (large sites) – USAToday.com, Today in the Sky

RSF is calling for EU ministers to further protect journalists in exile

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Today saw the start of the ‘Building a Europe of Asylum’ ministerial conference in Paris, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have used the opportunity to ask the 27 ministers responsible for asylum policy to do more to protect the dozens of journalists and free speech activists who are forced into exile each year.

“The current situation is dramatic and most journalists seeking asylum – who mainly come from Eritrea, Iran, Iraq or Sri Lanka – have difficulty finding refuge,” the letter says. “The long waits in the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the almost systematic refusal of western embassies to grant them visas force the great majority to risk their lives by resorting to illegal immigration methods.

“For this reason, there is an urgent need not only to recognise the refugee status of journalists in your country seeking asylum but also to facilitate procedures for protected entry and emergency resettlement.”

The two-day conference begins today.

Full shortlist of Association of Online Publishers award nominees

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The full list of nominees for this year’s AOP awards, which span 16 categories (courtesy of the AOP):

Launch 2008
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk/katine
Hearst digital – allaboutyou.com
IPC Media – Goodtoknow
James Publishing Ltd – World Reviewer
Redwood – www.yourfamily.org.uk
Channel 4/Zone – Channel 4 Food

Editorial Team – Business
Building – Building.co.uk
Centaur Media – thelawyer.com
CNET Networks UK – silicon.com
Dow Jones & Company – eFN.com
Incisive Media – Accountancy Age
Incisive Media – Legalweek.com
Reed Business Information – PersonnelToday.com
Reed Business Information – XpertHR.co.uk

Editorial Team – Consumer 2008
BBC Worldwide – bbcgoodfood.com
Financial Times – FT.com
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk/sport
IPC MEDIA – nme.com
IPC Media – Nuts.co.uk
Sky News – Sky News Online
Trinity Mirror – Gazette Communities

Research & Insights Project 2008
Guardian News & Media – GNM Total Audience
IPC Media – IPC Media for The Origin Panel – Women’s Space
ITV Online – Ad Innovations-Itv.com
Orange UK – Exposure – Orange UK
Reed Business Information – Travolution
Trinity Mirror – ARRON 2007/2008 Digital Audience Research

Online Advertising Sales Team – Consumer 2008
Bauer Media – Bauer Media Digital Sales Team
Channel 4 – Channel 4
Financial Times – FT.com
Future Publishing PLC – Future Publishing – Digital Agency Team
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk Ad Sales Team
Haymarket Consumer Media – whatcar.com
ITV Online – www.itv.com

Online Advertising Sales Team – Business 2008
CMPi – Building Magazine Online Commercial Team
Incisive Media – Accountancy Age Integrated Sales Team
Redactive Media Group – People Management online sales
Reed Business Information – RBI Job Sites
Reed Business Information – RBI e-Newsletters
UBM – BD & Building Virtual Careers

Innovation 2008
Financial Times – Mockingbird Model
Guardian News and Media – Guardian Publisher Network
ITV Online – Interactive Vouchering – Coronation Street and Harveys Furniture Store
Lonely Planet Publications – Lonely Planet Audio Phrasebooks for iPhone (and iPod Touch)
Jobsite (Assoc Northcliffe Digital) – BeMyInterviewer.co.uk
Lulu Enterprises UK – Lulu.com
TSL Education – TES Resource Bank

Cross-Media Project 2008
CMPI – www.thepublican.com/proudofpubs
Guardian News and Media – British Gas Greener Living Partnership
Incisive Media – Young Professional from Accountancy Age
IPC Media – The WKD Nuts Football Awards
Reuters Media – Bearing Witness: Five Years of Reporting War in Iraq
Seven Squared – ASOS ON FACEBOOK
TelecomTV – Mobile Planet
Times Online – Times Archive

Commercial Partnership
Bauer Media – Bauer Media Zoo Royal Marines 2008
Bauer Media – FHM / Nivea for Men Really Useful Guide
Channel 4 New Media – Ford Bite
Financial Times – Financial Times SST Commercial Partnership 2008
Incisive Media – Adviser Academy – IFAonline and JPMorgan
Reed Business Information – New Scientist Visions of the Future with UniversalMcCann for Microsoft
Telegraph Media Group – Telegraph Media Group and Cisco
VideoJug – Microsoft Office 2007 “It’s a new day, It’s a new office” VideoJug Series

Use of Video 2008
BBC – BBC News website
Channel 4 – Embarrassing Bodies
Financial Times – FT.com
Guardian News and Media – Zimbabwe election: The stolen ballots
IPC Media – NME.COM Video
News Group Newspapers – Sun TV
TelecomTV – TelecomTV
Telegraph Media Group – Telegraph TV

Mobile Site 2008
Brownbook Limited – Brownbook.net
Channel 4 – Big Art Mob
CondéNet UK – Glamour Mobile
CondéNet UK – GQ Mobile
Lonely Planet Publications – Lonely Planet m-site
News Group Newspapers – Sun Mobile

Online Community 2008
National Magazine Company – www.runnersworld.co.uk
News Group Newspapers – My Sun
Reed Business Information – Farmers Weekly Interactive
The National Magazine Co – www.babyexpert.com

Website 2008 – Business
Dow Jones & Company – eFN.com
Faversham House Group Ltd – www.edie.net
MarketClusters Ltd – StrategyEye
Reed Business Information – Hairdressers Journal Interactive
Reed Business Information – XpertHR.co.uk
Reed Business Information – Bankersalmanac.com
Reed Business Information – Farmers Weekly Interactive
TSL Education – www.tes.co.uk

Website 2008 – Consumer
Associated Newspapers Ltd – Mail Online
BSkyB – Sky News
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk
IPC Media – marieclaire.co.uk
IPC Media – nme.com
National Magazines Company – youandyourwedding.co.uk
News Group Newspapers – Sun Online
VideoJug – www.videojug.com

Online Publisher 2008 – Business
Dow Jones & Company – eFN.com
E-consultancy.com – E-consultancy.com
Reed Business Information – Reed Business Information
RICS – RICS
TSL Education – TSL Education
Wildfire Communications – Wildfire Communications Ltd

Online Publisher 2008 – Consumer
Associated Newspapers Ltd – Associated Northcliffe Digital
BSkyB – BSkyB
Hearst digital – Hearst digital
IPC Media – IPC Media
Microsoft – MSN UK
News Group Newspapers – Sun Online
Telegraph Media Group – Telegraph Media Group

LA Times: interactive election map and multimedia tribute to fallen soldiers

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The LA Times has created two great interactive features online: the first allows users to see different voting outcomes of November’s presidential election on a map of the US.

Using data from the 2004 election, states on the map can be assigned to either Obama or McCain, showing users how a winning these constituencies will affect the candidates’ chances overall.

The second marks the Californian soldiers who have lost their lives in the Iraq conflict.

Video, image galleries and a searchable database of soldiers’ profiles have been created, accompanied by moving text tributes from family members