Robyn Dixon
Best international reporting in the broadcast media showing a concern for the human condition
AWARD DATE: 2016
AWARD NAME: 15 The Madeline Dane Ross Award
AWARD RECIPIENT: Robyn Dixon
AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Times
AWARD HONORED WORK: “South Sudan Slips Back Toward Chaos”
Robyn Dixon’s vivid dispatches from Nigeria and South Sudan read like novellas, with strong central characters presented not in archetype but in all their complex humanity as they struggle against corruption, terrorism and civil war. Thorough, revelatory news reporting undergirded these tales, but Dixon kept the focus on ordinary people in unimaginable circumstances: a big-hearted father of 25, a driving teacher on perilous roads, a teenage girl traded for cattle. The lyrical storytelling offered a fresh look at African lives that have slipped from view as U.S. news outlets shrink foreign coverage. A concern for the human condition was embedded in Dixon’s journalism — her subjects are survivors, and their capacity for resilience lingered with the reader. Dixon’s work was a master class in foreign reporting that preserves the dignity and voices of the people who trust us with their stories.
Citation Recipient: Kathy Gannon
Affiliation: The Associated Press
Honored Work: “Honor Bound”