Reporters investigating drug lords in Mexico and Pol Pot atrocities in Cambodia win Knight Awards

por IJNet
Oct 30, 2018 en Specialized Topics

Mexican reporters who investigated violent drug cartels and a Cambodian journalist who uncovered secrets of the Pol Pot regime have won the 2011 Knight International Journalism Awards.

Rocío Idalia Gallegos Rodríguez and Sandra Rodríguez Nieto are investigative reporters in what may be the most dangerous city in the world. Despite tremendous risks, their work has chronicled the drug wars wreaking havoc in Ciudad Juárez and other places along the U.S.-Mexican border.

"While others are silenced by threats and attacks, these women have stood up to the most feared and ruthless cartels imaginable,” said José Zamora of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath took a decade to produce arguably the most important documentary about the Khmer Rouge. Working with British filmmaker Rob Lemkin, Sambath turned the interviews into the award-winning “Enemies of the People” documentary, which was short-listed for an Oscar. The film will be used as evidence in the upcoming trial of Nuon Chea.

The 2011 Knight International Journalism Award winners were announced by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) at the Newseum June 21.