Herald to the fore in refugee reporting awards shortlist

THE Herald and Sunday Herald newspapers are leading the nominations in a media awards competition to coincide with Scottish Refugee Week, starting on Monday.

Run by Oxfam Scotland – in association with various other organisations, including the Scottish Refugee Council, the British Red Cross and the NUJ –  there are five award categories up for grabs, with three nominees per category.

The winners will be announced a week on Friday.

The nominations are:

National Print

Stephen Naysmith, The Story of the Red Road Tragedy, Sunday Herald

Catherine Deveney, Gimme Shelter, Spectrum Magazine, Scotland on Sunday

Billy Briggs, In Search of Refuge, The Herald Magazine

Local Print

Lynsey Bews, Return to Rwanda, Fife Free Press

Caroline Wilson, No Place for Us, the Evening Times

David Clegg, Asylum Seeker’s Heroism Award, Dundee Courier

Broadcast

BBC Scotland, Newsnight Scotland, 25th Anniversary of Scottish Refugee Council (Fiona Walker, reporter)

STV News, Kosovo to Glasgow (Mike Edwards, reporter)

Radio Clyde News Team, coverage of Red Road Tragedy

Photography

Maurice MacDonald (Universal News and Sport), Hoops Home Help, published in the Daily Record

Colin Mearns, Red Road Tragedy, Sunday Herald/Herald

Kirsty Anderson, In Search of Refuge, Herald Magazine

The New Voices Student Journalism Award

Sabrina Ramzan, A Journey to Remember

Martin Graham, Red Road Stories

Refugee Week Scotland, a festival of events celebrating the contribution of refugees to the UK, runs from June 14-18.

Says Oxfam Scotland’s Aideen McLaughlin: “Asylum is a human right and the media has a huge role to play in ensuring that right is respected and upheld by both the public and governments. Now more than ever we need clear and factual reporting on asylum and refugee issues and these awards seek to encourage that.

“The calibre of this year’s entries was unprecedented and I’d like to congratulate all of those who entered on the quality and consideration of their work, which has no doubt made a difference to the lives of refugees and asylum seekers living in Scotland today.”