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Category Analysis
Winner Khody Akhavi

Khody Akhavi - IRAQ-AFGHANISTAN: Overlooking the Air War, Washington.

Khody Akhavi
was born in Britain to Iranian parents. He grew up in Canada, Spain, Sierra Leone, Norway, and he is now based in the United States. From Washington, he has covered the so-called "war on terror" and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Category Features
Shared Mario Osava - Ngoc Nguyen

Mario wrote the two-part series, "New Lives for Victims of Slave Labour" and "Freeing Modern-Day Slaves", Brazil.

(Originals in Spanish: DERECHOS HUMANOS-BRASIL: Una española libertadora de esclavos y BRASIL: Esclavitud es un mal difícil de extirpar

Veteran IPS writer Mario Osava, has travelled the corners of Latin America’s largest country to bring us stories from the ground on human rights, labour, environment, poverty, indigenous issues, and sustainable development.

Ngoc wrote a two-part series on South Asian immigration in the United States, MIGRATION-US: No Second Chance for Troubled Youth and "A Lifetime in Limbo" , San Francisco, California.

Ngoc Nguyen is a freelance journalist and editor based near Oakland, California. She frequently covers health and environmental justice stories, and issues related to the Asian American community.
Category Dangerous Assignments
Winner Mohammed A. Salih

Mohammed A. Salih - IRAQ: Young Women Find Peace as Guerrillas.

Kurdish journalist Mohammed A. Salih has reported for IPS from Haji Omaran (the Iraq-Iran border) and Arbil (Northen Iraq) on the plight of Kurds, especially women. One of the jury members said: “if I have to pick one it would be Salih because it's an unusual story and seems risky for the reporter”.

 

Members of the jury for the IPS Award for
Excellence in Independent Journalism 2007

  •  KUNDA DIXIT, Editor, Nepali Times, Nepal
     
  •  FARAI SAMHUNGU, Media and Communications Consultant
     
  •  ESTRELLA GUTIÉRREZ Journalist
     
  •  LISA VIVES, Director, Global Information Network (GIN) news agency, United States
     
  •  PABLO PIACENTINI, Director, IPS Columnist Service, Italy

“Richard De Zoysa” Award for Excellence in Independent Journalism

IPS is honouring Sri Lankan journalist Richard De Zoysa with this year's IPS Award for Excellence in Independent Journalism.

Richard De Zoysa was a multi-faceted personality who left a lasting impression during a short but prolific creative span. He was a media critic, announcer, teledrama and stage actor, author and journalist. He was also an IPS editor and the correspondent in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. Richard was 32 when he was abducted and killed by an armed gang in Sri Lanka on Feb. 19, 1990.

Richard's gruesome killing spurred his mother, Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu, to launch a campaign for justice for the 'disappeared' on behalf of the mothers who had lost their sons; wives who had lost their husbands; sisters who had lost their brothers.

Dr. Saravanamuttu's relentless campaign attracted international attention towards the plight of victims who disappeared without a trace during the 1988-90 terror period. In 1996, she was awarded the 'Weera Mathru' (heroic mother) title.

Richard De Zoysa was awarded posthumously the IPS Award in 1990. This award was established in 1985 to honour outstanding accomplishments in international journalism, promoting democracy and human rights.

Awards 2006 Awards 2005 Awards 2004 Awards 2003
 Latest stories by 2007 winners
Khody Akhavi
BOOKS-US: Blogging Brobdingnagian Blowback
POLITICS: Poll Backs Greater U.N. Role in Mideast Peace
POLITICS: U.S. and China Go Bump in the Middle East
US/MIDEAST: Respite on the Road to Nowhere?
POLITICS: Rice Midwifes Lebanon's Latest "Birth Pangs"

Mario Osava
BRAZIL: Small Hydroelectric Dams Not So Green
ENVIRONMENT: Tierramérica Centre Born in Heart of Amazon Jungle
BRAZIL: Biodiesel to Bring Electricity to Amazon Villages
ECONOMY: Oil Not Costly Enough to Prompt Needed Changes - Experts
BRAZIL: Doha Failure a ‘Triumph of Protectionism’, Say Trade Sources

Ngoc Nguyen
POLITICS: Young Hmong Americans Confront a Dark History
MIGRATION-US: A Lifetime in Limbo
MIGRATION-US: No Second Chance for Troubled Youth
HEALTH-U.S.: City Takes Aim at Hepatitis Among Asian Americans
DEVELOPMENT-US: Vietnamese Enclave Thrives After Katrina

Mohammed A. Salih
BOOKS: Muqtada - One Man's Meat, Another Man's Poison
POLITICS: US Concessions Rescue Floundering Iraq Security Deal
MIGRATION: Int'l Community Failing Iraqi Refugees
BOOKS-IRAQ: The Fruit of a Poisonous Tree
POLITICS: Al-Maliki's Balancing Act Leaves Iran Cool


News in RSS
CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Crafts That Steal Hearts All Over the World
POLITICS-COTE D'IVOIRE: Anti-Xenophobia Law Gets Lukewarm Reception
SOUTH AFRICA: Measuring the Carbon Footprint of Fruit and Wine
ASIA: Rock Star's Expulsion Says No to Child Sex Tourists
POLITICS-US: McCain's Plan to Privatise Veterans' Health Care
CHINA: Agony Turns Ecstasy as Gold Medals Pile Up
MIDDLE EAST: In the Race for Renewable Energy Sources
BOLIVIA: Businesses Take On the Green Challenge
PORTUGAL: Easing Food Safety Standards for Traditional Products
KENYA: Gathering Storm of Expectations in Nairobi Slum
More >>
News in RSS
BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY: CONFLICT OR COMPLEMENTARITY?
  By Ignacy Sachs
CAUCASUS: THE POWDER KEG
  By Johan Galtung
THE MAJOR CHALLENGES THE WORLD ORDER CAN'T ADDRESS
  By Benjamin William Mkapa* - IPS/South Centre
INDIA: AS THE ECONOMY GROWS, SO DOES HUNGER
  By Anuradha Mittal
HOUSING, FOOD, OIL - WHAT NEXT?
  By Johan Galtung
MORE >>
 

 

Comments by the jury members:

Dangerous Assignments:

“My choice for dangerous assignments would be a tie between Salih and Ben-Achour but if I had to pick one it would be Salih because it's an unusual story and seems risky for the reporter...”

Mohammed A. Salih’s “Young Women Find Peace as Guerrillas” is “an interesting perspective highlighting women’s often invisible roles especially in war. It is an inspiring tale of women’s quest to free themselves of male domination in a very unusual way – as guerillas. The article is informative, simple and inspiring.”

Features:

“I think the stories by Milagros Salazar are outstanding - it doesn't appear that she just took a handout from an NGO but did a lot of her own investigation on a story that might not otherwise be sufficiently covered. The stories by Aaron Glantz and Ngoc Nguyen tie for runners-up. They're interesting and well written.”

Stephen Leahy’s “Entire Landscape on the Move” is “an excellent article highlighting an issue of global significance... he describes in vivid detail the impacts of climate change on the environment and people’s livelihoods.”

In Aaron Glantz's “Soldier’s Tragic Suicide Just One of Dozens” “the writer introduces his story with an unusual take on a rather mundane practice -- tattooing-- which has been given significance as a result of the impact of the Iraq war on U.S. soldiers and their families. I found this narrative clear and emotionally engaging. Outstanding.”

Analysis:

“I vote for Constanza's story: It sets out a premise and then offers the evidence… (The story from Iraq “A Tale Of One City, Now Two”) would be a runner-up...”

Thalif Deen’s story “US Arms Sales Preserve Israel’s Edge” “is illuminating of the United States' contradictory policies in the Middle East. His style is simple, precise and thoroughly engaging.”

Joyce Mulama’s “I Almost Have No Fare to Come Back to Nairobi” is “an excellent analysis, which puts a spotlight on an issue rarely covered in elections – difficulties confronted by women in funding their election campaigns. The analysis is well balanced and seeks voices of women as well as men across different political parties in Kenya.

 

Special Mention
(in no particular order)

Features:

Analysis:

Dangerous Assignments :

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