Al Jazeera English nets Amnesty award

Rebecca Hawkes | 30-05-2012

A powerful television documentary charting the anti-regime protests in Bahrain has earned Al Jazeera English another accolade, courtesy of this year's Amnesty International UK Media Awards.

The 50-minute long 'Shouting in the Dark', was filmed, written and directed by Al Jazeera journalist May Ying Welsh during three months spent undercover in the Gulf Kingdom.

"Last year was a year of revolution across the Middle East, with significant media focus on uprisings in Egypt and Libya. Protests in Bahrain risked being forgotten when the government expelled all foreign media," she said.

"We were determined to not let this happen and we continued to film undercover to show what was happening on the ground. We would like to thank Amnesty International for this recognition and accept it on behalf of everyone whose stories were featured in the film."

The documentary was unveiled as the best international television and radio broadcast by the human rights organisation at an awards ceremony at the BFI in London on 29 May.

Paul Eedle, director of programmes, Al Jazeera English added: "We commend May for her achievement... and are proud to call her a colleague. She is the embodiment of true journalism; striving to reveal the truth and expose injustice in the world despite great risks to her own personal safety."

Judges for the awards included: Sean Ryan, foreign editor of the Sunday Times; Flora Hunter, deputy foreign news editor for ITV News; Jane Corbin, freelance reporter for BBC Panorama; and Mark Galloway, director of the International Broadcasting Trust.

The 12 awards in 11 categories - which cover digital, broadcast and print media - recognise excellence in human rights reporting. They also acknowledge journalism's significant contribution to public awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

"This was an especially memorable year for human rights journalism, with historic events in the Middle East standing out," said Kate Allen, UK director, Amnesty International.

A posthumous honour went to Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times for her reports from Syria under siege, while 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' - made by Channel 4/ITN Productions - won best documentary.

BBC Newsnight - for its report 'Undercover in Homs' - and ITV London/ITN - for Torso in the Thames - also joined Al Jazeera and Channel 4 as TV broadcast recipients in this year's Amnesty International UK Awards.