African winners of European Commission journalism prize
South African Journalist, Tanya Farber, was the top African winner of 2006 for the Lorenzo Natali Prize, awarded annually for human rights and democracy reporting in the printed and online press. The award is in memory of the former European Commissioner for Development who was committed to these values.
Ihosvanny, Urban Sox, 2007. Video artwork, 4 screens, #1_1’45’’,#2_2’05’’,#3_2’56’’,#4_0’13’’.
Courtesy Sindika Dokolo African collection of contemporary art.
‘The Bulb of Life’, recounts the story of Duma Kumalo who spent seven years on death row falsely accused of murder in South Africa. He received a stay of execution and was released at the end of apartheid, but died in February 2006 leaving his widow still struggling to clear his name posthumously. “Apartheid may have ended but there is still major fall out,” Ms Farber told a press conference for the Brussels ceremony in May.
Prizes of €5,000, €2,000 and €1,000 go respectively to three winners in five regions: Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Arab World, Iran and Israel. The overall winner for 2006 was HongKong-based Leu Siew Ying for an article on village protests in rural China, published in the South China Post.
In the African region, Robert Mugagga took second prize for ‘Why it’s dangerous being born in Uganda’ for the The Weekly Observer, about preventable mother-to-child HIV infection in Uganda. George Lucky of Nigeria’s BusinessDay, won third prize for his five-day series of articles on a five-day trek across West African nations about illegal immigrants seeking a gateway to Europe.
“Without the freedom of the press, there can be no lasting development,” stated EU Commissioner, Louis Michel, at the prize giving. This year’s jury, chaired by CNN television anchor, Femi Oke, also included members of Reporters sans Frontières and Amnesty International. Submissions for 2007 must have been published between 1 September 2006 and 31 December 2007 and be received by 31 January 2008. For more information and a full list of 2006 winners see: www.prixnatali.eu
