CNN Freedom Project Special Honored At Investigative Reporters And Editors Awards
A CNN Freedom Project investigation by Fred Pleitgen has been honored at the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) awards.
"Death In The Desert" - a 30 minute special first broadcast late last year on CNN International - revealed the horrifying story of African refugees who are enslaved or tortured, while trying to flee to Israel through the treacherous Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
While awarding the CNN special the Tom Renner Award, the IRE panel noted:
"CNN’s team faced great personal risk in crossing the dangerous badlands of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to expose a network of human trafficking and organ sales in “Death in the Desert.”
The team managed to persuade the hostile, clannish Bedouin tribesmen of the region to talk about their organized kidnapping for ransom and trafficking in African immigrants trying to cross from Egypt into Israel. The team also procured photographic evidence, reviewed by coroners, that suggested some immigrants had their organs harvested before being buried in the desert.
The final scene of nameless immigrants buried in unmarked graves almost within sight of their final destination in Israel provided an emotional finish to a dramatic, difficult and important story."
The CNN team who worked on the special include: Frederik Pleitgen, Mohamed Fahmy, Sheri England, Tim Lister, Ian Lee, Simon Payne and Earl Nurse.
Refugees Freed Following Broadcast Of CNN Freedom Project Documentary
CNN International reports that hundreds of African refugees have been released from captivity following the network's screening of the CNN Freedom Project documentary, 'Death In The Desert', in which CNN Correspondent Fred Pleitgen revealed the appalling conditions faced by migrants crossing into Israel from Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula.
The report, "Death in the Desert," which was first broadcast on CNN International on November 5, showed evidence that African refugees, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, were being held captive by Bedouin human traffickers in Sinai, who try to extort massive sums of money from the refugees’ families for their release.
While in captivity the refugees are enslaved, many of the women raped and some even killed. The CNN crew even found evidence that some victims had organs extracted, a practice known as organ harvesting, and were later found dead in the desert.
Shortly after the documentary aired, more than 600 African refugees were released in Sinai, says Hamdi al Azzazy, an activist for the New Generation Foundation for Human Rights who has worked for years in the region, fighting to improve the plight of the African refugees.
His account was backed up by a press release from the EveryOne Group, an Italian non-governmental organization, which has also been raising public awareness about the refugees.
'Death In The Desert' will re-air across CNN International this weekend. You can find schedule times here or you watch the documentary on demand at CNN.com: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
New CNN Freedom Project Special: 'Death In The Desert' Premieres This Weekend On CNN International
CNN International this weekend debuts a new special in the CNN Freedom Project series.
In the 30 minute program, "Death in the Desert", correspondent Fred Pleitgen uncovers the horrifying story of African refugees who are enslaved or tortured, while trying to flee to Israel through the treacherous Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
You can read a full debrief on special on CNN.com here. A preview of the special from CNN.com is below.
CNN's Freedom Project special "Death in the Desert" airs on CNN International from this weekend at the following times:
Saturday, November 5: 2100 GMT; Sunday, November 6: 0130 GMT, 1000 GMT, 1700 GMT; Monday, November 8: 0830 GMT.
CNN Press Release: Live coverage in Berlin anchored by Jim Clancy features interviews, countrywide reports from Frederik Pleitgen and Diana Magnay plus iReports
From February 21 – 28, CNN shines the spotlight on Germany, as its monthly i-List series comes to Europe's largest economy for a week of special coverage. The focus on Germany comes as the country's booming economy and fiscal stability puts it centre stage in the European Union. Veteran anchor Jim Clancy presents the daily shows The Brief and Prism live from Berlin with daily reports from Germany-based correspondents Frederik Pleitgen and Diana Magnay who have travelled the country to showcase the nation's wide ranging influence in business, commerce and technology as well as culture and sport.
CNN’s in-depth look at the world’s second largest exporter will also examine Germany's leadership in green technology, what drives its automotive industry and – off the back of the Berlinale film festival – what is energizing its growing film industry.
“We will be looking at today’s Germany, its challenges at home, its leadership within Europe and its positioning on the world stage,” says Mike McCarthy, vice president of coverage and feature programming for CNN International. “We’ll be giving our viewers a flavour of modern Germany in all its many dimensions as CNN's programming continues to go beyond borders.“
CNN also goes underwater in the world’s most advanced non-nuclear submarine, takes you to the unveiling of recently restored antiquities destroyed during WWII and, in a nation of football fanatics, previews the women’s world cup.
As part of its extensive focus on Germany, CNN is asking viewers to submit their pictures and videos about Germany to the network’s user-generated content platform iReport at www.ireport.com/ilist. The best will be used on-air and online as part of the week-long programming.
The focus on Germany is complemented by a 3-city series of temporary installations comprising thousands of glistening mirror-disks designed to evoke new perceptions of the everyday. Centre-stage in major squares in Frankfurt, Dresden and Berlin, the ‘lake of mirrors’ installation created by CNN gives passers-by a multi-layered new perspective on their surroundings.
About Jim Clancy, Frederik Pleitgen, Diana Magnay
Anchor Jim Clancy (@ClancyCNN) brings the experience of three decades covering major news events around the globe, including the fall of the Berlin wall, the siege of Beirut and the Iraq wars. Clancy has extensive knowledge and interest in Germany having been based in Frankfurt as an international correspondent from 1985 to 1986. He currently anchors The Brief from Atlanta which airs weekdays at 17.00 CET.
Frederik Pleitgen (@flpleitgenCNN) and Diana Magnay (@dimagnayCNN) are CNN’s Berlin Bureau correspondents. As well as covering major news from Germany on a daily basis Frederik has also made his mark with reports from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and most recently, the unrest in Egypt. Diana's standout reporting has been her coverage of the European debt crisis, in particular the riots in Greece, and the child abuse scandal surrounding the Catholic Church.
This latest installment of i-List continues its global journey which to date has included France, Georgia, Macedonia, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and Nigeria, Bahrain and Oman in the Middle East and, in Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
Transmission times:
Monday 21st February until Friday 25th February at 17:00 CET – Jim Clancy anchors his show The Brief live from Germany
Monday 21st February until Friday 25th February at 18:30 CET each evening – Jim Clancy anchors i-List live from Germany
The i-List week wraps with a half-hour special highlights programme Saturday 26th February 15:30 and 22:30 CET, Sunday 27th February 11:30 and 17:00 CET
CNN Press Release: On Friday February 11, 2011 CNN increased its presence in Egypt with the addition of Nic Robertson (@NicRobertsonCNN) who has returned to Cairo this morning and is joined by Fionnuala Sweeney, who has been reporting from Israel and then Abu Dhabi during the recent Egypt protests. There are six CNN teams on the ground in Egypt: Ben Wedeman (@benCNN), Frederik Pleitgen (@fpleitgenCNN), Ivan Watson (@IvanCNN), Arwa Damon (@arwaCNN), Nic Robertson (@NicRobertsonCNN) and Fionnuala Sweeney.
CNN and CNN International will simulcast through AC360 this evening.
More than 30 CNN staff are now newsgathering and reporting for all of CNN Worldwide's platforms and providing extensive live coverage across: CNN/U.S. and CNN International on television; CNN.com; CNN's free apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch; and CNNArabic.com, and CNN's Arabic language website based in Dubai which draws upon CNN's global resources of journalists and video production.
In addition to the reporting from Egypt, CNN has reporters covering this story from other key places in the region, including Mohammed Jamjoom in Yemen (@jamjoomcnn); Rima Maktabi in Lebanon and from Washington, D.C., senior White House correspondent Ed Henry (@edhenrycnn) and foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty (@cnnjill).
Follow CNN's Twitter list of anchors, correspondents and staff covering Egypt from inside the country and around the world here: @cnni/Egypt.
CNN is also taking advantage of its large newsgathering hub in Abu Dhabi and the International Desk in Atlanta, which has numerous Arab speakers and specialists.
As the crackdown on media and communications continues, CNN is also covering the story through the lens of social media. Using CNN iReport and other platforms – much as the network did during the Iranian uprising in June ‘09 – CNN is showing this story in a different light.
CNN has three reporting teams deployed across Egypt as tensions between protesters and the government intensify. Ben Wedeman, CNN's senior international correspondent based in Cairo, has been joined by Nic Robertson (reporting from Alexandria) and Frederik Pleitgen (reporting from Cairo and Suez).
In addition to journalists on the ground, Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN's international correspondent normally based in Abu Dhabi, is currently in Atlanta reporting across all of the network's platforms. CNN says it is also utilising their newsgathering hub in Abu Dhabi, as well as its International Desk in Atlanta, which is staffed with numerous Arab speakers and specialists.
Coverage of events in Egypt continues on television across Friday on CNN Domestic and CNN International. You can also track the latest news online with the following CNN links:
CNN Press Release:Weeklong coverage anchored by Fionnuala Sweeney will feature live interviews, countrywide reports from Fred Pleitgen and viewer videos.
Fionnuala Sweeney will front a week of live interviews with guests from the world of politics, business, sport and culture, interspersed with reports from by CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, who will be in Poland earlier in June to file a range of stories for the i-list team.
As Poland’s upcoming elections determine the future of its political landscape in the aftermath of terrible tragedy, and as severe floods compound the country’s internal challenges, CNN looks at the country’s response to its difficulties at a critical time in its history and asks how well it is faring.
With Poland’s new leaders set to shape the country anew on the world stage, CNN also gauges Poland’s infrastructural progress towards hosting the European Championships in 2012, set against the backdrop of this year’s World Cup in South Africa.
The week examines the country’s economic health as well, as one of the few countries to record positive GDP growth rate during the global financial crisis: an in-depth look at Poland’s ‘Brain Gain’ examines how those who left Poland after the country joined the EU in 2004 are returning home to set up new businesses with newly acquired skills. Other reports will include a look at Poland’s role in the Community of Democracies movement as it marks its tenth anniversary and an examination of Poland’s reprivatisation of property.
“Since the start of the year i-list has been bringing our viewers a fresh insight into countries that are helping to shape the international community. The story of modern Poland is reverberating onto the broader world stage politically, socio-economically, culturally and in the sporting arena. i-list puts Poland’s role in the world today under the microscope through a diverse mix of interviews, reports and of course, our viewers’ own views,” said Mike McCarthy, vice president of coverage and feature programming for CNN International.
The programming also looks at some of the cultural and social aspects that shape its national identity including the legacy of its famous musical son Frederic Chopin in this his 200th anniversary year, and a look at Wroclaw, a new arrival on Europe’s list of hip cities.
CNN is asking viewers to submit their pictures and videos about Poland to iReport, and the best will be used on-air and online as part of the week-long programming.
This latest instalment of i-list continues a global journey which to date has included Bahrain, France, Georgia and Macedonia.
About CNN’s ‘i-List’
The ‘i-List’ highlights innovation and influence in industry, business, technology, culture and more, from a list of destinations that combines the familiar with the unfamiliar. It showcases a nation’s people and places – those having an impact inside and outside their borders. ‘i-List Poland’ is the fifth in the series, with France, Bahrain, Georgia and Macedonia profiled in earlier instalments this year.
CNN.com/ilist has an interactive map showcasing iList’s global journey so far, allowing users to test their knowledge on Poland in an online quiz. There’s a profile of Poland’s hippest city with CNN’s guide to Wroclaw and users can read about the first biometric ATM machine in Europe.
A CNN Freedom Project investigation by Fred Pleitgen has been honored at the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) awards.
