Reports of Conflict, Disease and Environment Dominate Overseas Press Club Awards

NEW YORK, April 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The 22 award-winning entries for the annual Overseas Press Club Awards depict a world in which entire nations and millions of people have been torn apart by newly intensified forces of nationalism, extremism, disease and environmental degradation. Al Jazeera America, Los Angeles Times and The New York Times won multiple awards.

While Middle East conflicts generated the most stories submitted for the awards this year, others covered how Western ideals of democracy and human rights are increasingly put to the test by Russian aggression and Chinese ambition. Awards were also given to stories covering nations that once hoped to make the next leap of economic development, which are now mired in conflicts over resources and workers.

"There has been a lot of tragic foreign news over the past year – from Ebola to Ukraine to the Central African Republic to ISIS – including the tragedy of murdered journalists, like James Foley," says Marcus Mabry, president of the Overseas Press Club of America and editor at large of The New York Times. "But these awards tell us that despite mortal dangers, foreign correspondence – and foreign correspondents – are more vibrant than ever. And no one can stop a free and courageous press!"

David Rohde of Thomson Reuters will receive the President's Award in recognition of his journalism career and his historic effort to craft a code of conduct for safely reporting global news. Kathy Gannon of The Associated Press will light the press freedom candle in memory of journalists who have died in the line of duty in the past year and in honor of those injured, missing and abducted. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The New York Times will deliver the keynote address.

Other news organizations winning awards include Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg Businessweek, De Standaard, Foreign Policy, National Geographic, NPR, Philadelphia Daily News, POV, PBS, PRI, Reuters, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Time. First-time award winners include HBO Sports and the online magazine Matter.

The Robert Capa Gold Medal Award, which honors the best photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise, will be presented to Marcus Bleasdale, a global documentary photographer, for his work "Central African Republic Inferno" done on assignment for Human Rights Watch, Foreign Policy and National Geographic Magazine.

The OPC Awards will be livestreamed.  To tweet, use #OPCAwards2015.  Detailed information and photographs will be posted on the OPC website at www.opcofamerica.org. Contact [email protected]or 212 626-9220 if you wish to cover the award presentations in person.

There were 441 entries in this year's competition. 

AWARDS:

Newspapers, News Services, Magazines or Online

THE HAL BOYLE AWARD
Best newspaper, news service or online reporting from abroad
Adam Nossiter, Nori Onishi, Helene Cooper, Sheri Fink and The New York Times Staff
The New York Times
"Ebola From the Front Line"

THE BOB CONSIDINE AWARD
Best newspaper, news service or online interpretation of international affairs
Sergei Loiko and Carol Williams, Los Angeles Times
"Ukraine: A Nation Torn Apart"

THE MALCOLM FORBES AWARD
Best international business news reporting in newspapers, news services or online
Stephen Grey and Reuters team, Reuters
"Comrade Capitalism"

THE MADELINE DANE ROSS AWARD
Best international reporting in the print medium or online showing a concern
for the human condition
Jason Motlagh and Atish Saha, The Virginia Quarterly Review
"The Ghosts of Rana Plaza"

THE WHITMAN BASSOW AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on international environmental issues
Nick Miroff, The Washington Post
"Pushing South"

THE ROBERT SPIERS BENJAMIN AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on Latin America
Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Tracy Wilkinson, Kate Linthicum,
Cindy Carcamo and Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times
"A Wave of Migrants"

BEST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Best investigative reporting in any medium on an international story
C.J. Chivers, The New York Times
"Secret Casualties"

BEST COMMENTARY
Best commentary on international news in any medium
Matthew Kaminski, The Wall Street Journal
"On Ukraine"

THE ED CUNNINGHAM AWARD
Best magazine reporting in print or online on an international story
Matthieu Aikins and Sebastiano Tomada-Piccolomini
Medium/Matter
"Whoever Saves a Life"

THE MORTON FRANK AWARD
Best magazine international business news reporting in print or online
Cam Simpson and Jesse Westbrook, Bloomberg Businessweek
"The Hedge Fund and the Despot"

THE JOE and LAURIE DINE AWARD
Best international reporting in any medium dealing with human rights
Samuel Black, Anjali Kamat and Fault Lines Staff, Al Jazeera America
"America's War Workers"

Photography

THE ROBERT CAPA GOLD MEDAL AWARD
Best published photographic reporting from abroad
requiring exceptional courage, enterprise
Marcus Bleasdale,
Human Rights Watch, Foreign Policy and National Geographic Magazine
"Central African Republic Inferno"

THE OLIVIER REBBOT AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines or books
Jerome Sessini, Magnum Photos, Time and De Standaard
"Crime Without Punishment"

THE JOHN FABER AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad in newspapers or news services
Bulent Kilic, Agence France Presse
"Euromaidan Revolution in Kiev"

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Best feature photography published in any medium on an international theme
Rodrigo Abd, The Associated Press
"Peru's Illegal Gold Mining"

TV and Radio

THE LOWELL THOMAS AWARD
Best radio or audio news or interpretation of international affairs
Marine Olivesi and Aaron Schachter, PRI's "The World"
"Repercussions of the Arab Spring"

THE DAVID KAPLAN AWARD
Best TV or video spot news reporting from abroad
Nick Schifrin, Philip Maravilla and Ben Mulkey, Al Jazeera America
"Conflict in Gaza"

THE EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD
Best TV or video interpretation or documentary on international affairs
Rachel Boynton and Simon Kilmurry
POV, PBS and American Documentary Inc.
"Big Men"

THE DAVID A. ANDELMAN and PAMELA TITLE AWARD
Best international reporting in the broadcast media showing a concern for the human condition
Josh Fine and David Scott, HBO Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel
"The Price of Glory"

Book

THE CORNELIUS RYAN AWARD
Best non-fiction book on international affairs
Evan Osnos, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China

Cartoon

THE THOMAS NAST AWARD
Best cartoons on international affairs
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News

Multimedia

BEST MULTIMEDIA NEWS PRESENTATION
Best use of video, interactive graphics and slideshows to report on international news
Steve Inskeep, Kainaz Amaria and NPR Staff, National Public Radio
"Borderland"

About the Overseas Press Club (www.opcofamerica.org)
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The OPC seeks to maintain an international association of journalists working in the United States and abroad; to encourage the highest standards of professional integrity and skill in the reporting of news; to help educate a new generation of journalists; to contribute to the freedom and independence of journalists and the press throughout the world, and to work toward better communication and understanding among people.

SOURCE Overseas Press Club of America