For the first time in the history of the awards, a work produced anonymously has been recognised by the George Polk awards for 2009, which are organised by Long Island University in the US to honour special achievement in journalism.
The “viral” video of the collapse and death of Neda Agha-Soltan after she was shot during anti-government protests in Iran is at this link, but contains some disturbing images – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d90bwM4No_M&feature=player_embedded. A scholarship in her name for philosophy students of Iranian descent has since been set up at Queen’s College, Oxford.
“We don’t know who took it or who uploaded it, but we do know it has news value. This award celebrates the fact that, in today’s world, a brave bystander with a cellphone camera can use video-sharing and social networking sites to deliver news,” said John Darnton, curator of the awards.
Not-for-profit, investigative news group ProPublica also picked up an award, as did David Rohde, the New York Times correspondent who wrote about his kidnapping ordeal after being held captive by the Taliban for more than seven months.