Media Awards 2012

Celebrating the best of human rights journalism

The Amnesty International Media Awards were established in 1992 to recognise and celebrate the best in human rights journalism.

These awards recognise the breadth and quality of human rights reporting across the media.

Over the past two decades the awards have grown in prestige, recognising excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledging journalism's significant contribution to the public awareness of human rights issues.

The 12 categories recognise newspaper, magazine, radio, TV, digital and student journalism. Each is judged by an independent panel.

2012 shortlist announced

This year's shortlist has now been announced. Thank you to everyone who entered this year's competition and good luck to all the nominees. The winners will be announced on 29 May 2012.

Magazines: Consumer

• Nature's defenders:  New Internationalist  - Vanessa Baird
• The art issue: Art or vandalism?; Russia's Robin Hood; China's new deal:  Index on Censorship Yasmine El Rashidi; Nick Sturdee; Simon Kirby

Magazines: Supplements

• The rape of men:  Observer magazine -  Will Storr
• The 1000,000 ghosts of Baghdad:  Live, Mail on Sunday - Evan Williams

International TV and Radio

• Bahrain: shouting in the dark:  Al Jazeera English -  Jon Blair, May Ying Welsh  
• Assignment: blasphemy - a matter of life and death:  BBC World Service -  Jill McGivering,Caroline Finnigan, Bridget Harney, Bushra Taskeen
• Death in the desert - A CNN Freedom Project documentary:   CNN International -  Sheri England, Tim Lister, Earl Nurse,  Frederik Pleitgen 

Nations and Regions

• Torso in the Thames: ITV London Tonight -  Ronke Phillips,Faye Nickolds 
• Women of the world's worst slums:  Sunday Herald - David Pratt
• Gaddafi's secret policemen came to talk to me: Sunday Herald - David Pratt

Digital

• Deaths in custody: a case to answer: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism - Dan Bell, Iain Overton, Angus Stickler, Charlie Mole
• Online coverage of the execution of Troy Davis: The Guardian - Ed Pilkington, Guardian digital team
• Voices from dark places: exposing the crimes of the Assad regime:  Al Jazeera - Hugh Macleod, Annasofie Flamand

Radio

• Victoria Derbyshire in Guantanamo Bay:  BBC Radio 5 live - Victoria Derbyshire, Louisa Compton
• Afghanistan: counting the cost:  BBC Radio Four Today programme & The World Tonight - Mike Thomson, Nina Manwaring, Ceri Thomas 

Photojournalism

• A place to stay - Dale Farm:  The Times - Mary Turner
• The rattle of war and the pain of hunger:  The Guardian -  Robin Hammond
• Revolution: human rights abuse in Egypt:  NUJ Egyptian Revolution Exhibition - Lewis Whyld

Gaby Rado Memorial Award

• Horror in Homs: Channel 4 News -  Mani
• Unreported World: Nigeria:sex, lies and black magic; Uganda's miracle babies; Honduras:diving into danger:   Channel 4 - Jenny Kleeman
• Midnight's Children; Kenya is on the brink of its own disaster; 'Bridenapping': a growing hidden crime: The Independent on Sunday - Emily Dugan

TV News

• Undercover in Homs: BBC Newsnight - Sue Lloyd-Roberts, Amanda Gunn
• Battle for Misrata: ITV News - John Irvine, Sean Swan, Arti Lukha, Deborah Turness,
• Horror in Homs:  Channel 4 News  - Mani,Teresa Smith, Jonathan Miller, Agnieszka Liggett, 

National Newspapers

• We live in fear of a massacre: The Sunday Times - Marie Colvin
• Investigation into undercover policing of protest: The Guardian - Paul Lewis and Rob Evans
• In Europe's last dictatorship all opposition is mercilessly crushed: The Independent - Jerome Taylor

Documentary

• Sri Lanka's Killing Fields:  ITN Productions for Channel 4 - Callum Macrae , Chris Shaw, Jon Snow 
• Give Up Tomorrow:  BBC Four (Storyville) -  Nick Fraser, Marty Syjuco, Michael Collins, Eric Daniel Metzgar 
• Enemies of the People [Voices from the Killing Fields]:  More 4 -  Rob Lemkin, Thet Sambath, Stefan Ronowicz

Student

• The curious case of John Oguchuckwu: The Glasgow Guardian - Amy Mackinnon
• Democracy criminalised in East Jerusalem: Brig newspaper - the university of Stirling's online student voice - Boel Marcks von Wurtemberg
• Living in exile: Life 360: Cardiff University's international journalism magazine -  Paul Dharamraj

Media awards 2011

The judging process

(above) The 2011 winners with the awards host George Alagiah

Judging will take place in March and April 2012. Judges for the awards are selected from the media, arts and entertainment industries, NGO sector, academia and the legal profession. Senior staff at Amnesty International also take part in the judging but have no casting vote or additional influence over the choice of winners.

In selecting the winning entries, judges will consider the following criteria:

• quality of writing, filming or photography;
• currency or news value;
• accessibility or appropriateness for the target audience;
• exposure of human rights abuses or bringing them to a new audience;
• carrying forward the debate on human rights or highlighting new or emerging issue.

The three shortlisted entries in each category will be announced at the beginning of May 2012 and winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 29 May 2012. 

Contacts

Further information and queries
If you have any queries, wish to contact us or require any further information please email media.awards@amnesty.org.uk or call 020 7033 1544.

Nations and Regions award contacts

Scotland
Shabnum Mustapha 0131 718 6687
shabnum.mustapha@amnesty.org.uk

Northern Ireland
Grainne Teggart 0792 804 2315
grainne.teggart@amnesty.org.uk

Wales
Cathy Owens 029 2078 6415
cathy.owens@amnesty.org.uk

England
Alison Willis 020 7033 1544
media.awards@amnesty.org.uk  

Thanks

We are grateful to all those who have contributed to the 2011 media awards:

• BFI
• EC Awards
• Concept Completion
• Bellotheque
• Locomotion
• UBC Media Group
• Capacitas Ltd
• Communisis
• Ballistic
• Mark Oglesby