On Feb. 26, the Overseas Press Club Foundation held its 25th annual Scholar Awards Luncheon. The event featured a keynote speech from Kathy Gannon, who has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for The Associated Press as a correspondent and bureau chief.
Gannon survived an attack in April 2014, but her friend AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus, was shot and killed.
In her speech, she urged the OPC Foundation scholars to focus on objectivity in their reporting when covering conflict, to follow their curiosity and ask more probing questions.
“When we look at a story through teh prism of good and evil, our stories are colored, or questions are weak and in the end it impacts the information the reader receives, it skews the recording of history.”
In his introductory remarks, OPC Foundation president Bill Holstein said the foundation’s awards judges considered some 190 applications from students representing 60 universities, selecting winners with ground experience who editors would trust to send into the field.
“Even though our beloved craft, our profession has changed so dramatically over these years,” he said, “these young people share many of my values, many of our values.”
Click the window below to watch a playlist of video clips from the program, including Gannon’s keynote and Holstein’s introductory remarks.