In the finest tradition of Edward R. Murrow, this documentary challenges everything you thought you knew about the illegal trade in kidneys and the international campaign to stop it. Through interviews with donors, recipients, go-betweens, doctors and prosecutors from North America to Israel and Eastern Europe to the Philippines, the filmmakers provide a rare look at how an illegally acquired kidney reaches a sick person and how both desperation and good will drive the trade.
Award archive category: Television
The David A. Andelman and Pamela Title Award 2013
“Outlawed in Pakistan” shows how and why it is nearly impossible for rape victims to get justice in Pakistan. This compelling and beautifully filmed Frontline documentary follows 13-year-old Kainat and her family over a period of years as she tries—and fails—to bring to justice the men who allegedly gang-raped her. In the process, the reporters spotlight conditions for women, abuses under Islamic law and serious police failings. Frontline and the filmmakers give the full picture of what a nightmare it is to bring a rape case in Pakistan.
The Lowell Thomas Award 2012
The judges were riveted as they listened to this compelling and beautifully narrated story of recent events and the violent massacre of more than 200 people in the village of Dos Erres in Guatamala more than two decades ago. In 2012 the discovery of a father, still alive, and his son Oscar Ramirez, an undocumented worker in the U.S., each of whom assumed the other dead in the tragedy, prompted reporter Nosheen and producer Reed to devote five months to researching the story, finding victims and perpetrators. As a result, Ramirez was granted political asylum in the U.S. and several implicated soldiers have been apprehended for trial.
The David Kaplan Award 2012
CNN’s harrowing reporting from Damascus represents true bravery in the face of danger. The reporter and crew, unable to identify themselves in order to protect their Syrian helpers, uncovered fresh killings of civilians by the Syrian Army. Their work provides an all too important voice to those who have been oppressed and have survived some of the most horrific conditions of war, all the while putting their own personal safety at risk.
The Edward R. Murrow Award 2012
Since the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the hunt for Osama bin Laden has been central to the battle against terrorism and has played continuously in the background of news coverage on the subject. While we all know the end of the tale, the details of the hunt and bin Laden’s death were not available before this first-hand account and year-long investigation.
The David A. Andelman and Pamela Title Award 2012
Najibullah Quraishi’s reporting in Opium Brides stood out for its exploration of a dangerous, hidden world to reveal a human tragedy: young Afghan girls traded by their opium poppy growing families to pay debts to international drug lords. The subject matter is intrinsically important, highlighting the plight of Afghan farming families caught between drug traffickers who finance their crops and government officials bent on poppy eradication. But what set the entry apart was the way it ventured into the remote Afghan countryside to show the plight of individual families and their children, as they weighed up the demands of the traffickers and then succumbed to them. Brave, beautifully shot and paced, this entry was sensitive in its handling of a tragic human dilemma and harrowing in its impact.
The Lowell Thomas Award 2011
Simply making her way into Libya last year to report the story of ragtag rebels overthrowing an entrenched dictator was achievement enough. But Lourdes Garcia-
Navarro did more, recording pitch-perfect narration from Gadhafi’s Tripoli compound and notorious Abu Selim prison and providing honest, unflinching portraits of people whose lives were being destroyed, or begun anew, as the country lurched into its new era.
The David Kaplan Award 2011
In addition to her courageous reporting in the face of danger, Christiane Amanpour distinguished her coverage of the revolts by obtaining two timely and revealing interviews: in Egypt with President Hosni Mubarak and in Libya with Colonel Moammar Gadhafi. She was the only journalist to talk to these doomed leaders as their regimes were being torn apart. Because Amanpour has been covering the Middle East for two decades, her depth of understanding of the region enabled her to truly capture these historic times in her compelling reports — both as a witness and especially as an interviewer.
The Edward R. Murrow Award 2011
If the first victim of war is the truth, the second is women and children. The five-part series “Women, War & Peace” chronicles, in searing fashion, the victimization of women and their struggle to fight back in the wake of the most severe violence and depredation. In Liberia, women fed up with killing and destruction join hands and bring war-makers to heel. Watch as their nonviolent protests catch on throughout the region. In Afghanistan, women insist on being part of the peace process. Watch as their courageous stand changes the equation in their war-torn land. In Colombia, they clamor to draw attention to a forgotten guerilla conflict. Watch as their years-long struggle gets the headlines it deserves. And in Bosnia, women bear witness to systematic sexual assault. Watch as awareness of rape as a tool of war spreads throughout the world. After “Women, War & Peace,” viewers will never forget women’s role in global conflict.
The Carl Spielvogel Award 2011
A vivid examination of the new front lines of the tobacco wars—third world countries, especially the populous nation of Indonesia, where the barriers to entry are all but nonexistent — where the global cigarette giants are successfully marketing their product to the youngest consumers, ignoring the health risks and warnings that have stalled their growth in most of the developed world.