Best Of RFE/RL: May
Each month RFE/RL’s Editorial Board celebrates the greatest journalistic achievements in breaking news coverage, reporting, features, videos, and photography within its 25 Language Services. Below are the winners for May, 2018.
News And Current Affairs
Demonstrations In Kazakhstan
RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service’s reporting on the demonstrations that took place in Astana, Almaty, Aqtobe and elsewhere on May 10 was viewed over one million times on YouTube with hundreds of comments. The footage was shared on multiple social media platforms and was used by leading human rights activists. Radio Azattyk was the only local media to capture the events, police brutality, and mass arrests.
Feature Long
Republic Like A Fairy Tale
A film produced by RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the first parliamentary republic in the Muslim world – the Azerbaijan People’s Republic – includes memories by witnesses, analyses by historians, and reenactment of important events. It is a powerful recount of the story about a Republic that lasted 23 months.
Feature Short
Beatings On Pushkin Square
RFE/RL’s Russian Service’s reporting on the mass rally that took place in Moscow on May 5 in the wake of the planned inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time and a new six-year term, shows extreme police brutality. The nationwide protest action was organized by Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who had called for the protests under the slogan "He's not our tsar."
Social Video
First Transgender Games In Pakistan
RFE/RL’s Pakistani Service’s video about the first Transgender Games in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province shows the transgender community’s enthusiasm and appreciation for the initiative. The video was viewed more than 600 thousand times on Radio Mashaal’s Facebook and was picked up by international media.
Text/Audio
Russian Asylum Applications In U.S.
RFE/RL Central Newsroom journalist Carl Schreck’s exclusive story on Russian asylum applications in the U.S. hitting a 24-year high was picked up by many Russian-language media outlets and international media, prompting a dismissive reaction from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Special Project
Download Our News App!
RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service and Current Time Digital’s (DIGIM) new version of the RFE/RL news app responds to attempts by local providers in Tatarstan to restrict access to the Service’s websites, as well as to restricted access to the Telegram messenger in Russia. The video can be used by other RFE/RL Services as they face increasing pressure from local authorities.