Voice of America won three medals at the 2019 New York Festivals International TV and Film Awards ceremony at the NAB Show in Las Vegas this past Tuesday.
VOA’s documentary Displaced, which details the experiences of the Rohingya Muslim refugees currently living in the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh, won a Gold World Medal in the International Affairs Documentary category, a Silver World Medal in the Best News Documentary/Special News Program category, as well as a United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) special Bronze Award.
VOA journalist (and newly-named Gray TV host) Greta Van Susteren and a camera crew shot the doc in the Rohingya refugee camp last summer. The team detailed the experiences and current living conditions of more than 700,000 displaced Rohingya Muslims that sought refuge in Bangladesh, after Burmese military operations in neighboring Myanmar caused them to flee.
“The Voice of America chose to spotlight one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world today,” VOA director Amanda Bennett said in a statement. “We are so gratified that the festival judges recognized the importance of sharing with the world the tragic story of the Rohingya refugees.”
In addition to the multi-winner documentary Displaced, VOA’s digital project Cambodia Adrift was a finalist in the Digital Special Event category.
It’s a busy time for Van Susteren. In addition to her volunteer job/show at VOA (Plugged In), she recently signed a deal with Gray TV stations to be their chief national political analyst, and will host a new weekly Sunday morning public affairs show called Full Court Press that launches the Sunday after Labor Day, and will air in all Gray markets plus syndication (the show has already picked up major cities for syndication).
Van Susteren announced the new show at NAB, and also got to interview Alan Alda, who was honored at NAB this year.
Gray gives Van Susteren a domestic audience from Alaska to Florida, and her VOA volunteer show, which goes world wide – is translated into dozens of foreign languages, including Farsi and airing in Iran.