Al Jazeera wins Broadcaster of the Year award at NYF

Other awards handed to Al Jazeera at New York Festivals include five Gold World Medals, 14 silver and seven bronze.

Al Jazeera Studio
This year's tally from the New York Festivals awards was higher than the total of 19 which the network won in 2016 [Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera Media Network has been awarded Broadcaster of the Year at the prestigious New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films awards.

The network received the prize on Tuesday, in addition to five Gold World Medals, 14 Silver World Medals and seven Bronze Medals for various programmes and individual pieces of journalism.

Al Jazeera English also earned three Gold, 12 Silver, five Bronze and 10 Finalist Certificates for various content on news, programmes and online.

Al Jazeera’s Investigative Directorate picked up two Gold, two Silver, two Bronze and one Finalist Certificate for a variety of investigations which were aired across the network.

101 East won one Gold World Medal for Good Morning Pakistan in the Best Public Affairs Programme category.

Afghanistan: Medics Under Fire and Too Young to Wed both won Silver World Medals, while Guns, Goons and the Presidency, Hong Kong: Aged and Abandoned and India’s Miracle Babies all were awarded Bronze World Medals.

South Korean Hangover and The Orangutan Whisperer both picked up Finalist Certificates. 

Foundation, an episode in The Caliph series picked up a Gold World Award in Religious Programmes category, while the episode Division from the Caliph series won a Silver World Medal.

ISIL and the Taliban won a Gold World Medal for the Best Television-Documentary on Social Issues category and a Bronze World Medal in the Television-Documentary/ National/International Affairs category.

People and Power picked up two Silver World Medals for Syria: Under Russia’s Fist and Borderless: Undercover with the People Smugglers was also awarded a Bronze World Medal.


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Witness was awarded two Silver World Medals for Syria’s White Helmets and Kisulu: The Climate Diaries. Syria’s White Helmets along with China’s Fake Boyfriends were also awarded Finalist Certificates, as well.

Al Jazeera English also picked up three more Silver World Medals for The Stream, My Nigeria – Sandra Aguebo: Lady Mechanic and the People’s Health: Thailand’s Remote Lifesavers.

Three episodes of UpFront – Islam and Democracy: What’s the Problem? Women Make Change – Going Places: Girls’ Education in Ghana and Al Jazeera Correspondent – Off the Rails – A Journey Through Japan received Finalist Certificates.

Al Jazeera English News was awarded a Silver World Medal and a Finalist Certificate in the Breaking News Story category for its coverage of the Turkey Failed Coup

Senegal: The Continuous Cycle of FGM picked up a Silver World Award Medal and a Finalist Certificate. This gave Al Jazeera English a total of three Gold World Medals, Twelve Silver World Medals, five Bronze World Medals and 10 Finalist Certificates.


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Commenting on the success of the awards, Giles Trendle, the acting managing director of Al Jazeera English said: “Al Jazeera English is delighted to be named Broadcaster of the Year at the New York Festival awards and to win a batch of gold, silver and bronze awards for our content.

“It’s a great honour to have our bold and unique journalism recognised on the global stage by our peers. In a world seemingly beset by rising bigotry and extremism, Al Jazeera English continues its mission in providing a wider scope of information, insight and understanding.

“These awards are a testament to the quality of our journalism and the value of our goal to tell important stories from around the world. Behind every award is a multitalented and multicultural team of dedicated individuals whose creativity and commitment come together in the shared aim of listening to, and telling, people’s stories”.

The Al Jazeera’s Investigation Directorate, which provides groundbreaking investigative programmes for the channels and platforms of Al Jazeera Media Network, picked up two Gold World Medals, two Silver, one Bronze and one Finalist Certificate.

Commenting on the awards, the Directorate’s manager, Phil Rees said: “I welcome the recognition that the New York Television Festivals has given to original, hard-hitting investigative work.”

The Investigative Directorate gained further recognition in the US at the Headliner Awards. Stealing Paradise, an expose on corruption in the Maldives, won first place in the investigative report category, while The Poacher’s Pipeline, on the illegal trade in rhino horn, won second in the documentary category.

This year’s tally of 27 World Medals from the New York Festivals awards is significantly higher than the total of 19 that Al Jazeera Media Network won in 2016.

The New York Festival’s World’s Best TV & Films competition honours programming in all lengths and forms from over 50 countries. This year’s powerhouse Grand Jury of prominent international broadcast and film industry executives represents 34 countries on six continents.

Source: Al Jazeera