Page 45 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2013 | 45
The determination of TV journalists to get to the heart
of a story, no matter how disturbing and distressing,
was ably demonstrated by the entries in the
investigative documentary category.
Our winner was Channel 4 for Sri Lanka’s Killing
Fields, a film documenting the final bloody weeks of
the Sri Lankan civil war. It included damning new
evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Judges said that this was a balanced, truly
informative investigation that contained brutal
pictures that needed to be seen by the world. The
documentary brought to light a truly shocking story
through excellent journalism. It was a really well-
rounded report that clearly deserved the top award in
this category.
Highly commended
BBC Arabic
Jordan’s Secret Shame
A courageous investigative documentary with excellent
work by undercover reporter Hanan Khandagji who
explored the abuse of disabled children in care homes
in Jordan. The documentary brought a response from
both the public and the Jordanian government. Judges
said this was well-crafted, investigated and
contextualised and delivered full and comprehensive
coverage of an important, hidden issue.
Radio Free Asia
An Invisible World – The Lives of Slaves
An multi-platform series that looked at the never-
ending problem of human trafficking in Asia. This
report purposely looked beyond prostitution to identify
and document other forms of exploitation. Most of the
time, laws exists and prohibit the exploitation of
women and children. What's lacking is not only
implementation, but also simply knowledge. Our
judges thought this was an excellent series telling
previously hidden stories.
Knitting in Tripoli tells an intimate story of life during
the Libyan uprising. Within days of the Libyan
uprising, the BBC's correspondent in Libya, Rana
Jawad, was forced underground, petrified the secret
police would come knocking, partly because her
husband is from the rebel stronghold, Benghazi. She
became the BBC website’s Tripoli Witness, an
anonymous blogger.
It is called Knitting in Tripoli because that is one of
the things Rana did to fill her days when living in
hiding and no longer able to report, even as an
anonymous blogger, on the Libyan uprising.
Knitting in Tripoli also reveals the hitherto
unknown world of Tripoli's underground resistance as
ordinary people secretly prepared for the capital’s own
uprising in August 2011.
This was an intimate, engaging and extremely
original story, layered with solid journalism. It
provided human context to a tragic international
event, the AIB’s judges commented.
Highly commended
Société Radio-Canada
Tales of Objects – The Bra
Tales of Objects is a radio show in which a common
subject – a seemingly mundane thing – serves as a
springboard towards a variety of surprising topics. It's
a show fuelled by curiosity, thriving on the outskirts of
current events coverage. Here the bra is the star of
the show's rigorous inquisitive treatment - and it
resonated with our judges who said it was funny and
quirky. They also commented that the programme
was a great and amusing concept.
Best investigative
documentary - TV
Channel Four
Best radio creative
feature
BBC World Service
Inspiring creativity