(Top, left to right) David M. Halbfinger, Yousur Al-Hlou, John Woo, (bottom, left to right) Malachy Browne and Iyad Abuheweila
Best story or series of stories on international affairs using creative and dynamic storytelling techniques
AWARD DATE: 2018
AWARD NAME: The Kim Wall Award
AWARD RECIPIENTS: David M. Halbfinger, Yousur Al-Hlou, John Woo, Malachy Browne and Iyad Abuheweila
AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: The New York Times
AWARD HONORED WORK: “The Death and Life of a Gaza Medic”
AWARD SPONSOR: Molly Bingham
When 20-year-old medic Rouzan al-Najjar was killed by an Israeli bullet in Gaza last June, she instantly became a symbol of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this 5-month interactive investigation, the New York Times not only captured the complex life and death of a charismatic young woman from Gaza, but also revealed how the shot that killed her was potentially a war crime. Collecting and analyzing more than 1,000 images from the site of the killing, Times reporters partnered with the British research agency Forensic Architecture to create a 3D reconstruction of the fatal shot from six angles. Reporters made multiple trips to Gaza, visited Israeli sniper positions, analyzed ballistic evidence, and interviewed legal experts, government officials, eyewitnesses, and those who knew al-Najjar best. The resulting evidence challenged the Israel Defense Forces’ claim about the shot that killed al-Najjar, and prompted a criminal investigation. Judge Mansi Choksi, a friend and reporting partner of Kim Wall, said it was exactly “the kind of ambitious story Kim would have liked to do,” particularly because it “challenged gendered cliches about empowerment and victimization.”
Citation for Excellence Recipients: Michelle Mizner, Katie Worth, Carla Borras, Raney Aronson and Andrew Metz
Affiliation: FRONTLINE and GroundTruth
Honored Work: “The Last Generation”