Getty Photographers Win 3 OPC Awards

Getty Images nearly swept the photo award categories at the 69th annual Overseas Press Club Awards. While in the past few years much of the international reporting attention has focused on covering the Iraq War, this year’s winners broadens the coverage areas to include Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Congo and China and issues like endangered mountain gorillas and child brides.

Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil lit the traditional candle to honor journalists killed in 2007.

The dinner, held April 24 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York, was a celebration of outstanding foreign reporting and began with recognizing those who perished in an effort to tell the story to a global audience. About 440 guests attended the event.

OPC Board member Kathleen Hunt headed up this year's awards process. She said that the OPC received 510 entries, equal to the total from the previous year -- despite budget cuts, slashed foreign bureaus and general upheaval in the media business -- and reported that the number of entries doubled in the categories of the environment and human rights issues.

OPC Dinner Chairman Bill Holstein introduced Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil who lit the traditional candle in honor of journalists killed during 2007 in the line of duty. Fadhil said that while there were 88 journalists and 22 media workers who died in 2007, he said he was encouraged by news of recent releases among journalists, like Richard Butler, a British cameraman-photojournalist working for CBS News who was kidnapped in February, was freed April 14 and AP photographer Bilal Hussein who was held by the U.S. for two years on charges of terrorism and released April 7. "Their only crime was a crime I commit, too, and that's freedom of expression," Fadhil said.

Ali Fadhil, who came from Baghdad to light the candle, was trained as a medical doctor, but after the U.S. invasion he turned to journalism. At first he worked as an interpreter, then made documentaries for Channel 4 in London. Until recently he was a Fulbright scholar at the NYU Journalism School. He came to the attention of the OPC when he wrote a compelling op-ed piece for The New York Times on September 6, 2006 and subsequently appeared on an OPC program of Iraqi journalists.

Ann Curry, NBC News Anchor and Correspondent, handed out the first few awards including the Hal Boyle Award, which went to Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post for his groundbreaking expose, "The Private Armies of Iraq." This story was written months before the Blackwater scandal, and reported on and written by Fainaru alone.

Fainaru relayed his experience of finding the people the series centered upon like Jonathon Cote who was abducted while working for a private security firm in Iraq and whose body was recovered the day before the awards ceremony after having gone missing for 17 months. Fainaru thanked his paper. "I wouldn't have met Jonathon Cote, if The Washington Post was not committed to continue reporting the story of Iraq. I feel honored to be associated with that effort."

James Nachtwey received the highest honor of the evening, the 2008 OPC President's Award.

Fainaru's message — a thank you to the support of media outlets that continue to be committed to both financial resources and space to tell the story — was echoed throughout the evening.

The New York Times won The Malcom Forbes Award for best business reporting from abroad. The series, "A Toxic Pipeline" uncovered the tainted cough syrup made in China and distributed in Panama. Walt Bogdanich, one of the reporters on the team, said that he first uncovered a similar cough syrup issue in Haiti 14 years ago as a 60 Minutes reporter, where dozens of children died. The company, however, was never held accountable for their negligence.

Bogdanich, who spoke on behalf of the team of reporters who won the award, said, "I feel lucky to work for a company that took this story on, even though no American child had been affected. At long last, the company that made this poison was held accountable and the company was shut down."

Photographers from Getty Images nearly swept all photography awards. John Moore won the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award for his coverage of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Paula Bronstein won the John Faber Award for her coverage of the aftermath of the Bhutto assassination. Brent Stirton won the Feature Photography Award for his photos that record the killings of gorillas in eastern Congo.

Brent Stirton said that with 680 gorillas left, the issues of conservation and environment could not longer be separated from other news. And said that he hoped his photos provides a "...new way of talking about issues we feel hopeless about."

Belgian photographer Cedric Gerbehaye working for Agence Vu-Newsweek, won the Olivier Rebbot Award for his series that depicted the continued conflict in the Congo. Gerbehaye said, "Being a witness is not enough. It is my duty to make photographs that describe and investigate the Congo. These images are for humanism, not for a slogan."

Paul Steiger

James Nachtwey received the highest honor of the evening, the 2008 OPC President's Award.

Toward the end of the evening, the room grew in silent as gripping photos shot through the years of James Nachtwey's career were projected on the giant screen behind the podium before he came to the stage. Once the slideshow ended, guests gave Nachtwey a standing ovation.

In accepting the award, Nachtwey thanked the navigators, translators and drivers who enable non-native reporters to cover the stories the world needs to know about.

"They love their countries and value journalism," Nachtwey said. "I dedicate this award to the colleagues who give us so much."

Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and now co-founder of ProPublica, gave the evening's closing speech.