DHAKA: The Thomson Foundation, MRDI Bangladesh and the Sri Lankan College of Journalism announced the final regional winners of the South Asian Inquirer award 2013-14.
After intense competition from over 250 entries from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives the final regional winners are-- Upendra Herath of Hiru TV– Sri Lanka wins the TV category, Mosaber Hussain of Prothom Alo – Bangladesh wins the Print category, Amin al Rasheed of ABC Radio - Bangladesh wins the radio category.
"All three are worthy winners, and as with last year our finalists have shown great courage and conviction in their work", says David Quin – deputy director of development at the UK media charity the Thomson Foundation.
"The high number and quality of entries from across the region shows the deepening strength of investigative reporting in South Asia, the public's appetite for it and the scale of the issues that remain to be tackled."
Upendra story for Hiru TV focused in on shady land deals in Sri Lanka's farming sector, Mosaber Hussain from Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo looked into the opaque business ownership of senior Bangladesh politicians, whilst Amin Al Rasheed of ABC Radio Bangladesh uncovered corruption in housing projects, funded by the international community, following Cyclone Aila.
Project partners Sri Lankan College of Journalism and MRDI Bangladesh have both seen how the South Asian Inquirer award, backed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has helped enthuse and encourage editors and journalists to engage in deeper investigative reporting, shining light into many shady areas. With the competition accompanied by training sessions on how to cover transparency and public finance in both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, reporters get a firmer grip on how to deal with corruption issues in a balanced way.
Acting British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Nick Low said, “I congratulate the regional winners and their media organisations. Investigative journalism is at the heart of a free media and makes an important contribution to democratic accountability. It’s good to see this so much in evidence in the articles submitted to the Inquirer Award’s panel of judges. I hope the media houses will encourage their talented reporters towards more investigative journalism.”
"The project's training component is a key part of reaching out to the media, giving journalists access and understanding of key sources of information from the state and civil society on public finance and transparency issues, and we're delighted to be a part in that process," says MRDI's Executive Director Hasibur Rahman.
The winner’s reward is a study tour to London in June, where they will visit leading UK parliamentarians, editors, academics and British Asian community leaders to look at how regional transparency issues in South Asia are effecting the UK.
BDST: 1705 HRS, MAY 07, 2014
