Amnesty Media Awards 2021: Winners announced

‘In a year when much of the world ground to a halt, thankfully the vital work of human rights journalism continued’ - Kate Allen

The winners of Amnesty International UK’s prestigious Media Awards 2021 have been announced this evening at a virtual ceremony.

In a year when much of the rolling news was dominated by the pandemic, many of the winning pieces focussed on lesser known issues facing people and countries.

BBC Africa Eye won Best Broadcast News for its powerful investigation analysing phone footage and other open-source material relating to a huge pipeline explosion in “Lagos Inferno”.

Open-source investigation was also celebrated in the Radio and Podcasts category, in which Bellingcat was awarded for its investigation into distressing footage of the execution of women and children by soldiers in Cameroon.

The Guardian’s “Fashion's Dirty Secret: How Sexual Assault Took Hold in Jeans Factories” revealed the abuse experienced by factory workers making Levi’s jeans in Lesotho and took top spot in the Best Features category.  BBC Storyville’s “Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge” won Best Documentary.

Winners in each category were announced earlier this evening by a number of high-profile journalists involved in judging this year’s awards, including Unreported World’s Seyi Rhodes, Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow, Sky News’ Alex Crawford OBE and BBC News’ Clive Myrie.

Viewers of the ceremony were encouraged to support an Amnesty campaign calling for action on behalf of biology students and LGBTI+ defenders Melike Balkan and Özgür Gür, who are facing trial over a peaceful protest at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey.

“In a year when much of the world ground to a halt, thankfully the vital work of human rights journalism continued – without which, the line-up of often harrowing and moving stories we have celebrated tonight would have gone untold.

“We pay tribute to the inspiring bravery and dedication of journalists who continue to uncover wrongdoing, hold those in authority to account, and help create a fairer world.”

Judges: George Arbuthnott (The Times), Jemma Crew (Press Association), Kenneth Sanchez (Freelance Journalist), Simi Jolaoso (BBC South West), Stuart Allan (Professor of Journalism, University of Cardiff), Niall Couper (Amnesty International)

Best use of Digital Media

Judges: Anushka Asthana (The Guardian), Dan Hyde (The Mail on Sunday), Joseph Winter (BBC News Online), Manveen Rana (The Times), Laurie Hanna (Amnesty International)

The full list of Media Awards 2021 finalists can be found here.

You can enter next year’s awards now by visiting the Amnesty Media Awards website: