The David Kaplan Award 2021

Clockwise from upper left: Matthew Chance, Zahra Ullah and Jeffrey Kehl

Best TV or video spot news reporting from abroad

AWARD DATE: 2021

AWARD NAME: The David Kaplan Award 2021

AWARD RECIPIENTS: Matthew Chance, Zahra Ullah and Jeffrey Kehl

AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: CNN

AWARD HONORED WORK: “Belarus — Inside a Manufactured Migrant Crisis”

AWARD SPONSOR: ABC News

The CNN team brought us into the midst of a simmering migrant crisis fueled by Belarus and its autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko, that quickly boiled over into a full-scale humanitarian emergency. Camped against razor wire fences, more than 2,000 people, largely Kurds from Iraq, seeking refuge in Europe, found themselves marooned, in desperate conditions, in a political no-man’s land. Chance scored a rare interview with Lukashenko. As the crisis neared its peak, Chance, his cameraman and producer were live on CNN as violence erupted at the border checkpoint, capturing chaotic scenes — crowds of desperate migrants throwing rocks at Polish border guards, the Poles responding with tear gas and water cannons that hit Chance, who continued broadcasting, soaked and struggling to breathe. CNN, which stayed with the story until its final denouement, succeeded in putting a human face on a violent geopolitical crisis and humanitarian tragedy.

A link to the winning work: “Belarus — Inside a Manufactured Migrant Crisis

Citation for Excellence:
Adam Desiderio, Ben C. Solomon, Amel Guettatfi, Nelson Ryland and Andrew Pattison
VICE News Tonight
“The Fall of Kandahar”