This morning I found a slew of articles reporting on the announcement of the George Polk Awards — with emphasis on one of the awards in particular. One of the thirteen 2009 George Polk Awards in Journalism, the George Polk Award for Videography, was awarded to those who captured the death of Neda Agha-Soltan back in June. This is the first time an anonymously “produced” piece has been honored by the George Polk Awards. The George Polk Award for Videography was awarded by Long Island University in New York (which administers the awards) in an effort to “recognize the efforts of the people responsible for recording the death of 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan at a June protest in Tehran, Iran, and uploading the video to the Internet… Seen by millions as it spread virally across the Web, the images quickly gained the attention of international media.” [See video here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9oltq_neda-agha-soltan-shot-in-iran_news] The award was established in the late-1940’s when journalist George Polk was killed covering the Greek Civil War. In a high-bandwidth world, where not much stays in the mainstream media for more than a quick ticker scroll, ULI and those who administer the George Polk Awards have done more, in simply honoring those who captured some of the most graphic footage of the last seven months, helped to do what so many pro-human & civil rights activists work for and what the people of Iran have asked for: keeping the world alert and awake to the efforts and struggles of the Iranian people. Read the full press release Long Island University Announces Winners of 2009 George Polk Awards in Journalism http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2009.html
