Nothing but the truth: the young journalists defending media freedom
11/07/2019
Led by the UK and Canadian governments, the aim is to shine a global spotlight on free media and increase the cost to those that are attempting to restrict it. The campaign culminates in the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London on 10th and 11th July, 2019, which brings together global leaders and representatives from the media industry, journalists, civil society and academia.
The conference, which Thomson Foundation is attending, is timely as we launch our prestigious Young Journalist Award and highlight the work of three former winners - from Sudan, Syria and Russia - who, by their courage and determination, work tirelessly to root out the truth and hold the powerful to account.
Yousra Elbagir, Waad Al Kateab and Alisa Kustikova remind us that journalists often have to fight for the cause of media freedom, in the public's service, at great personal risk.
Alisa Kustikova
Young Journalist winner: 2018
Country: Russia
Press freedom ranking: 149th out of 180 countries*
Solidarity of the media: the power of collective outrage and action
Russian society is in need of reliable reporting, not reporting that is distorted by propaganda or fake information, says Alisa Kustikova, whose brave, impactful reporting won her a Young Journalist Award. Russians are experiencing a total distrust of journalism and journalists. There are too many lies being told on central channels.
In June 2019, in a bold call for press freedom in the country, three influential Russian broadsheets - Vedomosti, Kommersant and RBC - used their front pages to speak out for detained journalist, Ivan Golunov, known for his investigative work probing corruption.
The editorial, titled I Am/We are Ivan Golunov , was an unusual show of media unity in the country after Ivan's arrest for serious drugs offences. The charges were widely viewed as an attempt to muzzle the journalist and were thought to be connected to a secret investigation he was working on at the time.
Reports also suggested that he was beaten in custody. A series of forensic tests later failed to establish any link between the journalist and the drugs that were found and Russian authorities dropped all charges.
Russian journalists are able to achieve a lot if they all unite There was a national outpouring of solidarity with Ivan, and Alisa was one of many defenders of transparent Russian journalism who lobbied his case. The decision to release Ivan - a highly unusual move for a system that rarely makes U-turns - was seen as a response to passionate protests that had broken out following news of his arrest.
I was one of thousands of journalists across the country, supported by the public, who took to the streets to say no to an attack on journalism, says Alisa.
Nowadays, journalists in Russia are fighting not just for their profession, we are fighting for our future. I believe in journalism that helps society and, as the story with Ivan Golunov demonstrates, Russian journalists are able to achieve a lot if they all unite.
Soon after his release, Reporters Without Borders tweeted: We hail the historic mobilisation of the Russian civil society. Now those who tried to set him up must be judged.
But the intimidation and persecution in Ivan's case is far from the first, and the risks do not end there, according to Alisa, who works as an investigative reporter in the Moscow office of Novaya Gazeta, one of the few outlets for hard-hitting independent journalism in Russia. She talks of six former Novaya journalists who she says had been murdered for their investigations, including the newspaper's founder, Yury Shchekochikhin, and Anna Politkovskaya, known for her criticisms of Russias actions in Chechnya. It's a great honour for me to continue their work, she says.
Alisas reporting includes coverage of a loan shark business that tricked thousands of people and the astonishing practice of carousel voting' during elections in St Petersburg. She is the first Russian to win the Young Journalist prize, which is part of the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) Awards.
@AlisaKustikova
Waad Al Kateab
Young Journalist winner: 2017 (special recognition)
Country: Syria
Press freedom ranking: 174th out of 180 countries*
Surviving the siege: war from a strictly female perspective
In Syria, the citizens joke that even their thoughts and dreams are controlled by regime forces, says Waad Al Kateab.
The Syrian filmmaker won a special, one-off Young Journalist Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Continuing Story' in 2017 for her unflinching dispatches to the UK's Channel 4 News showing life and death in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo.
In a highly state-censored country, which denied local TV from reporting the conflict and banned foreign journalists, Waad made sure her camera was never turned off.
If this footage isn't taken, these stories will all die, and that's it, she says. I considered myself a witness to something really important. It was my responsibility to my city, its people and our friends to say what happened and get all the details out.
The growth of citizen journalists like Waad, who was an economics student at the University of Aleppo when the conflict began, isn't often a conscious choice but the result of a series of emotionally-charged events. We felt the only thing we could do, as Syrians who really believe in what's happening, is to film whatever you see around you. No one can ignore this when it is recorded.
Her footage, viewed hundreds of millions of times on YouTube, included the story of a new-born baby being resuscitated after doctors were forced to perform an emergency caesarean on a woman who had been hit by shrapn
LINK: | http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/nothing-but-the-truth-the-youn... |
See more stories from thompsonfoundation |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik Discusses 1Q24 On CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime"
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
Audinate Adds Major New Features to Dante Connect
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
Bell Media Launches New Portfolio of FAST Channels
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
Study: Broadcast TV Evening News Avoids Serious Economic Issues
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
Hughes Opens Manufacturing Facility and Private 5G Incubation Center in Maryland
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Broadcasting Legend Harry Pappas Dead At 78
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
Televisa Selects Synamedia For Broadcast Distribution Overhaul
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024 0 Comments By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show Brie Clayton April 26, 2024 0 Comments SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Certificate
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Reports Higher Q1 Profits Despite Broadband, Video Losses
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Environmental Groups Aim To Make Unscripted TV More Sustainable
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia Named Weekend Anchor at Telemundo 40 in Texas
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports Kicks Off FAST Channel for UEFA Champions League on Pluto TV
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Brian Roberts's Pay Rose To $35 Million at Comcast
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
John Lithgow Goes Back to School in Art Happens Here'
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
FETV Wants Upfront Buyers Seeking Cable Viewers To Join Its Family
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Catchy Comedy Features Gomer Pyle, USMC' Weekend Marathon
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks off today at Cinpolis
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
Interview: Lourdes Portillo, Director of Las madres de la Plaza de Mayo, La Ofrenda
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Career insights instead of everyday school life
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
L3Harris Technologies Reports Strong First Quarter 2024 Results, Increases 2024 Profitability Guidance
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
What Makes A Network Resilient?
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports Launches New Free Streaming Channel
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Roku Streaming Homes Hit 81.6M
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
Sarah Farrell Named General Manager Of Pinewood Toronto Studios
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and Myriad Solutions
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talent' award
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted Brie Clayton April 26, 2024 0 Comments Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024 0 Comments By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Hi Barbie! Mattel Launching First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Marty Moe Named President Of Trusted Media Brands
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard Directs Jim Henson Documentary for Disney Plus
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
Kraken Skate Away From RSN Root Sports for Deals With Tegna, Amazon
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Warner Bros. Discovery Launches Olli First-Party Data Platform
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
The Equalizer' Gets Season 5 on CBS
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW Inks New Deal for Miss USA, Miss Teen USA
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Urging Young Viewers To Vote With Blunt Campaign
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Neil Gaiman's Sandman' Universe Expands With Dead Boy Detectives'
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective opens largest film and TV studio in the heart of London
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages By Matthew Corrigan Publi...
26/04/2024
Richard Perkett joins Amagi as chief product officer
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries ...
26/04/2024
Teradek Announces Smaller More Robust Built-in Antennas f...
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
Amagi Names Richard Perkett Chief Product Officer
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
NAB Board Election Results Announced
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
Mattel to Launch First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
NextGen TV Launches In Portland, Maine
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...