THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS AGENCY AFP IS INVITING LOCALLY-HIRED JOURNALISTS WORKING IN ASIA TO SUBMIT
ENTRIES FOR ITS ANNUAL KATE WEBB PRIZE, WORTH 3,000 EUROS (ABOUT 3,900 USD). APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE MADE BY APRIL 30, 2013. THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MAY AND WILL BE INVITED TO A PRIZE-GIVING CEREMONY.
The prize is named after Kate Webb, one of the finest correspondents to have worked for AFP, who died in 2007 at the age of 64. Kate would have celebrated her 70th birthday on March 24. The prize is awarded for exceptional work produced by locally-engaged Asian journalists operating in dangerous or difficult circumstances.
“The Kate Webb Award offers international recognition for journalistic excellence to locally-hired journalists reporting the news, very often at the risk of life or liberty, from across the Asia-Pacific region,” said AFP’s Asia-Pacific Director Gilles Campion.
“AFP knows, as Kate knew, the core role of local reporters to domestic media well as international news companies in bringing depth and breadth to news coverage of Asia.”
Born in New Zealand, Kate Webb earned a reputation as a fearless reporter while covering wars and other historic events in Asia during a career spanning four decades. She made her name in Vietnam and also worked in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, India, South Korea and the Middle East. She was known for her kindness and compassion and became a mentor to younger Asian journalists.
The prize is administered by the AFP Foundation – a non-profit-making organization set up to promote press freedom through training journalists in developing countries – and by the Webb family. It was first awarded in 2008, to Pakistani reporter Mushtaq Yusufzai for his coverage of the dangerous tribal lands bordering on Afghanistan. There was no winner last year.
In 2011, the prize was awarded to Dilnaz Boga, an Indian reporter and photographer, for her courageous investigative work in Indian-administered Kashmir. Boga had spent a year in Srinagar working for the news portal Kashmir Dispatch as well as several international publications and websites.
This year’s prize is open to local reporters, photographers and broadcast journalists in Asia, including camera crew, for work done between January 1 and December 31, 2012. Stringers and freelance journalists may submit entries as well as people employed by local media.
Articles and broadcast material may be submitted in English or any Asian national language, provided that there is English translation which has been certified as accurate.
Details of the prize are available on the Kate Webb Prize Facebook page. Applications should be sent to katewebbprize@afp.com.
About AFP
AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,260 journalists spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.