The Associatd Press reports that “the unnamed people who videotaped and publicized the shooting death of an Iranian protester have been chosen to receive a George Polk journalism award.” The award website does not provide a list of 2010 award winners.
The young woman’s name was Neda Agh-Solton. I’m not sure why AP felt it necessary to refer to her anonymously.
Earlier this month, Poynter.org reported:
Long Island University’s George Polk Awards drew 430 entries this year — the first year it has kept an entry tally. Winners will be announced next Monday, Feb. 15. In an e-mail, LIU journalism department chair Ralph Engelman, faculty coordinator for the Polks, observed that the current crop reflect:
“fewer examples of investigative journalism from major mid-sized regional papers; a significant growth in the submission of entries in which news organizations have partnered with one another; a growing importance of special funding sources for investigative reporting …; more online material, but generally not stand-alone, rather part of a multiplatform entry … [and] an encouraging spike in good radio entries, primarily public radio stations doing local invesgitative work, perhaps a result of the vacuum caused by the crisis in print.”With less support nowadays for investigative journalism, “those who are still doing it are understandably and legitimately making more strenuous efforts to gain recognition,” Engelman continued. “Perhaps major awards like the Polks assume greater importance in this environment.”
