Press Release | London, 11-Oct-07

Kurt Schork Memorial Awards for 2007 Honour
Murdered Iraqi Woman Journalist and German Investigation into Illegal Migration

For the second year in a row, the Kurt Schork Memorial Awards have honoured a journalist killed in Iraq because of critical reporting

Sahar al-Haideri

Sahar al-Haideri, 44 – a mother of four and contributor to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, IWPR, as well as Iraqi media – was gunned down in June in Mosul after receiving death threats for a series of campaigning stories highlighting the influence of religious extremists, especially in curtailing the rights of women. Al-Haideri has received the 2007 Schork award for local journalists.

“Al-Haideri’s investigation of the ‘honour killing’ amongst Yezidis was exceptional,” said Lindsey Hilsum, international editor and China correspondent for the UK’s Channel 4 News and a member of the judges panel. “There is a passion to these stories, and I read them before the background notes, so did not realise she had been subsequently murdered. It is unbelievably upsetting.”

The 2006 Schork Awards recognised US journalist Steven Vincent, who was killed in Basra.

More about Sahar, Story Background and Context

Mario Kaiser

In the international category, Mario Kaiser, a contributor to Der Spiegel, won for his reporting on a young Mexican women’s journey as an illegal immigrant to New York. Kaiser researched the article by putting himself in the hands of a smuggler in order to understand the hardships of illegal migrants.

“This is a perennial story, brilliantly retold and made new,” said the judges panel, which also included Raymond Bonner of The New York Times, writer and commentator Mona Eltahawy, Brian Groom of The Financial Times and Christina Lamb of The Sunday Times. “His resourcefulness and courage in committing himself to the hands of a coyote [smuggler] were exceptional.”

More about Mario, Story Background and Context

The Schork Awards, administered by the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund and the media-development group IWPR, uniquely honour excellence and bravery in freelance reporting from areas of crisis and transition. Established in 2001, they celebrate the life and work of Kurt Schork, the former freelance reporter who was killed six years ago in Sierra Leone on assignment for Reuters.

The awards, and a prize of $5,000 each, will be presented to Kaiser and al-Haideri’s husband on November 14, at a ceremony at the Frontline Club in London hosted by CNN chief international correspondent and Schork Fund advisory board member Christiane Amanpour. The evening will include a debate on the challenges of reporting from the world’s most politically problematic and isolated countries – including Burma, North Korea, China and Iran.

Invitation

The Kurt Schork Memorial Fund and the Institute for War & Peace Reporting invite you to an evening to celebrate the best in committed and fearless reporting

Frontline Club, London, November 14th 2007 at 7.30pm
Hosted by Christiane Amanpour of CNN and the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund Advisory Board

The Award Ceremony to be followed by a special panel discussion
Getting the real story out:
How to access and verify stories from inside the world’s most problematic and isolated countries?

Please join us for an evening’s celebration to acknowledge, reward and remember those journalists around the world working out of the spotlight to report on the world’s crises, conflicts and challenges. The Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism were set up to recognize the best in local and freelance reporters who make such a critical contribution to international understanding, but whose work is often overlooked by the mainstream media.

This year’s winners are the late Sahar Al-Haideri, an Iraqi freelance journalist and IWPR trainee who paid the ultimate price for her commitment to journalism –and German freelancer Mario Kaiser who followed a story no editor dared commission. The awards were established in memory of Kurt Schork, the widely-admired journalist who was killed in Sierra Leone while on assignment for Reuters.

The Award ceremony will be followed by a panel-led discussion on the challenges of accessing, checking and disseminating reports from inside closed and problematic societies where borders are sealed, populations threatened and communications shut down.

Seating at the Frontline for this free event will be strictly limited and is being allocated on a strictly pre-reserved basis. Food and refreshments will be served after the event in the clubroom.

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting is proud to be partnering the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund in celebrating the best in international freelance and local reporting around the world. Further information about the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund can be found at http://www.ksmfund.org.