Four Pakistanis win best humanitarian reporting awards

May 2, 2006

Islamabad, May 02 (Online): Four Pakistani Journalists have won Internews Humanitarian Reporting Awards 2006 for excellence in humanitarian media coverage of devastating October 8 earthquake under difficult conditions.

The award winners include Waseem Khan of Online for best photograph published, Fasih ur Rehman of the News for Best English Newspaper Report, Abrar Rashid of Geo TV for best TV News Report and Shazia Irum of campus FM 107 radio, Peshawar University for Best Radio News Report.

A five member judges panel comprising distinguished Pakistani journalists, including a member of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club Election Committee and an FM station director, chose the awardees for their outstanding journalistic work, which contributed to improved understanding of the earthquake tragedy and an effective humanitarian response.

A total of 25 workers were considered for different categories of awards. The awardees will get a certificate, a shield and a cash amount of Rs. 10,000 each.

The award has been constituted by the staff of Internews Pakistan, from their own pockets to mark World Press Freedom today (Wednesday) and to acknowledge the professionalism of Pakistani media.

Internews staff were neither contenders for these awards nor part of the independent judges' committee. Internews is a non-profit, non-governmental organization working for capacity building of Pakistani radio, television and print media and improving journalism standards, including supporting the emergency FM radio stations licensed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority in the earthquake affected areas.