Associated Press Photographers Lead Winners' Parade at the 73rd Overseas Press Club Awards

NEW YORK, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a year when most noteworthy international coverage originated from Libya, Egypt and Japan, Associated Press (AP) photographers captured three Overseas Press Club awards, including two by David Guttenfelder, to lead all news organizations at the 73rd Annual OPC Awards Dinner held today.

Since 1940, the OPC Awards have recognized the finest examples of international journalism.  Weekend anchor Lester Holt of NBC News and Alison Smale, the executive editor of The International Herald Tribune will present the awards at tonight's black-tie event in New York.

This year the AP raised its career OPC awards total to 40. Guttenfelder, the chief Asia photographer for AP, won the Feature Photography Award for his images of a closed society in North Korea and an Olivier Rebbot Award for Japan's closed-off nuclear zone, which appeared in National Geographic. AP's Pete Muller won the John Faber Award for documenting the fight against mass rape in Eastern Congo, marking the first time since 1968 that AP photographers collected three OPC awards in one year. 

Ted Turner, chairman of Turner Enterprises and CNN founder, will receive the President's Award for lifetime achievement. Joao Silva, the renowned photojournalist who was seriously wounded covering the war in Afghanistan, will light the Press Freedom Candle in honor of the 46 journalists killed in 2011. Sir Harold Evans, Reuters editor-at-large, will remember all fallen reporters with his own personal tribute.

Six other news organizations won two awards each, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, ABC News, WNET-TV, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek.    

C.J. Chivers of The New York Times won the prestigious Hal Boyle Award for best newspaper reporting from abroad for his series "War Reports from Libya and Afghanistan," which the judging committee explained why the Afghanistan war has become so difficult for the U.S. strategically.

The Robert Capa Gold Medal Award, which honors press photography requiring great enterprise and courage, went to Andre Liohn of the European Pressphoto Agency for his combat images of Misrata.

Stories related to the upheaval in Libya accounted for six of the 27 awards, four came from Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster, and three more were connected to the Arab Spring, including Christiane Amanpour of ABC News, the only journalist to interview doomed leaders Moammar Gadhafi and Hosni Mubarak.

"It is a privilege to recognize the groundbreaking work by this year's OPC award winners," said OPC President David Andelman. "We admire their courage, brilliance and originality."

The OPC created six new categories for online coverage as it acknowledged the changing media landscape.  Online and web winners include foreignpolicy.com, GlobalPost.com, the Council on Foreign Relations and MediaStorm, The Financial Times and ProPublica, Virginia Quarterly Review and The New York Times.

"The OPC recognizes the amazing creativity of online journalists with the new awards," said Andelman. "These extraordinary winners are adding their important voices to the global dialogue."

Andelman will present Turner with the OPC President's Award for distinguished service in the field of journalism.  Turner's many contributions in the media field are highlighted by founding CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network that revolutionized the news business.

Video clips of the winners will be posted on the OPC website at www.opcofamerica.org after the dinner. Media organizations are encouraged to link to the clips.

There were 520 entries in this year's competition.  The winners include:

Newspaper and news services

THE HAL BOYLE AWARD
Best newspaper or news service reporting from abroad
C.J. Chivers
The New York Times
"War Reports from Libya and Afghanistan

THE BOB CONSIDINE AWARD
Best newspaper or news service interpretation of international affairs
Marcus Walker, Charles Forelle, Matthew Karnitschnig, David Enrich, Stacy Meichtry,
Brian Blackstone, David Gauthier-Villars, Gordon Fairclough
The Wall Street Journal
"European Disunion"

THE MALCOLM FORBES AWARD
Best international business news reporting in newspapers or news services
Paul Sonne, Steve Stecklow, Farnaz Fassihi, Margaret Coker, Loretta Chao, Christopher Rhoads,
Matt Bradley, Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Nour Malas, Don Clark
The Wall Street Journal
"Censorship Inc."

THE MADELINE DANE ROSS AWARD
Best international reporting in the print medium showing a concern
for the human condition
Andrew Higgins and Aaron Harlan
The Washington Post
"Disaster in Japan"

Photography

THE ROBERT CAPA GOLD MEDAL AWARD
Best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise
Andre Liohn, European Pressphoto Agency / Prospekt Photographers for Newsweek
"Almost Dawn in Libya"

THE OLIVIER REBBOT AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines or books
David Guttenfelder
The Associated Press for National Geographic
"The Zone"

THE JOHN FABER AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad in newspapers or news services
Pete Muller, The Associated Press
"Battling Impunity:  The Fight Against Mass Rape in Eastern Congo"

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Best feature photography published in any medium on an international theme
David Guttenfelder
The Associated Press
"Inside a Closed Society:  Daily Life in North Korea"

TV and Radio

THE LOWELL THOMAS AWARD
Best radio news or interpretation of international affairs
Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, Loren Jenkins, Douglas Roberts, Jonathan Blakely, Sean Carberry,
Grant Clarke, Nishant Dahiya, J.J. Sutherland
National Public Radio
"Arab Spring"

THE DAVID KAPLAN AWARD
Best TV spot news reporting from abroad
Christiane Amanpour, Katie Hinman, Bartley Price, Nasser Atta, Jeanmarie Condon
ABC News
"Arab Spring – Cairo to Tripoli"

THE EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD
Best TV interpretation or documentary on international affairs
Abigail E. Disney, Pamela Hogan, Gini Reticker, Nina Chaudry, Peter Bull,
Claudia Rizzi, Oriana Zill de Granados, Johanna Hamilton
Thirteen/WNET and Fork Films
"Women, War & Peace"

THE ROBERT SPIERS BENJAMIN AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on Latin America
Pamela Hogan, Abigail Disney, Gini Reticker, Nina Chaudry, Oriana Zill de Granados, Kristen
Huntley, Jennifer Janisch, Lena Shemel, Juan Carlos
Thirteen/WNET and Fork Films
"The War We Are Living" from "Women, War & Peace"

THE DAVID A. ANDELMAN and PAMELA TITLE AWARD
Best international reporting in the broadcast media and
online showing a concern for the human condition
Diane Sawyer, Dr. Richard Besser, John Quinones, Deborah Roberts
Jessica Velmans, Kerry Smith
ABC News
"Giving Life:  A Risky Proposition"

THE CARL SPIELVOGEL AWARD
Best international business news reporting in the broadcast media  
Christof  Putzel, Jeff Plunkett, Alex Simmons
Current TV
"Sex, Lies and Cigarettes"

Magazines

THE ED CUNNINGHAM AWARD
Best magazine reporting from abroad
Charles Graeber
Bloomberg Businessweek
"Nothing To Do But Start Again"

THE MORTON FRANK AWARD
Best international business news reporting in magazines
Daniel Golden
Bloomberg Businessweek
"New Oriental Cracks the SAT Code"

THE JOE and LAURIE DINE AWARD
Best international reporting in any medium dealing with human rights
Sarah Stillman
The New Yorker
"The Invisible Army"

THE WHITMAN BASSOW AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on international environmental issues
Evan Osnos
The New Yorker
"The Fallout"

Books

THE CORNELIUS RYAN AWARD
Best non-fiction book on international affairs
Robin Wright, Simon & Schuster
Rock the Casbah:  Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World

Cartoons

THE THOMAS NAST AWARD
Best cartoons on international affairs
Patrick Chappatte, International Herald Tribune

Web

GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE AWARD
Best overall international coverage on a website
Staff of Foreign Policy, foreignpolicy.com

BEST ONLINE COVERAGE OF BREAKING NEWS
Best online coverage, including Tweets, during a 72-hour period of
an international breaking news event
GlobalPost Staff
"The Libyan Rebellion"

BEST USE OF ONLINE MULTIMEDIA
Best use of techniques such as interactive graphics, Flash and slideshows to report on
international news
cfr.org and MediaStorm, Council on Foreign Relations
"Crisis Guide: Iran"

BEST ONLINE INVESTIGATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL ISSUE OR EVENT
Best original or exclusive reporting that provides new insights into an event or trend of
international significance
Vanessa Houlder, Megan Murphy, Benjamin Freese, Johanna Kassel, Christine Spolar (Financial
Times); Jeff Gerth and Tom Detzel (ProPublica)
The Financial Times and ProPublica
"Tax Wars:  A Cross-Border Battle Worth Billions"

BEST USE OF ONLINE VIDEO
Excellence in original video on an international topic created specifically for a news website
Maisie Crow and Jesse Dukes, Virginia Quarterly Review
"Half-Lives:  The Chernobyl Workers Today"

BEST ONLINE COMMENTARY
Best international affairs commentary or blog
Nicholas D. Kristof, Adam B. Ellick, Sean Patrick Farrell, Jaron Gilinsky
The New York Times
"A Year Through a Kaleidoscope: The Arab Spring"

SOURCE Overseas Press Club of America