Two Asia-based international radio broadcasters received ‘highly commended’ accolades at the Association of International Broadcasting Awards (AIBs) on Wednesday night.
At a ceremony in London, judges recognised Radio Taiwan International’s documentary My Days at the Mental Ward for its “immediate appeal” which “demonstrates fine production values and excellent pace”.
RTI lost out in the Radio Current Affairs Documentary award to overall winner, Irish independent producer Grey Heron Media for Take No More, about a standoff between parents and subcontractors over the building of a new primary school.
Kazakhstan Republican TV & Radio was also recognised under the Radio Creative Feature category for Classicomania, which judges described as “relaxing, entertaining, educational and original”.
The first prize in that category went to another Ireland-based radio producer Nuala Macklin for Below the Radar, a series of six documentaries.
Other winners were Radio Free Asia for Remembering Tiananmen in the Innovative Production Technology category and BBC World Service as Best Specialist Programme for My City, where several correspondents described the global cities they report from.
London-based independent producer Tinderbox won the Investigative Documentary category (Radio) for its series An Unspeakable Act, about the predominance of sexual violence, broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Now in their ninth year, the AIBS celebrate the best in radio, TV and transmedia programmes, technology and talent.
Simon Spanswick, AIB CEO said: ”The entries in 2013 demonstrated the continuing dedication of programme makers and journalists to uncover important and challenging stories, to take risks, both personally and professionally and to work expertly to investigate and explain complex subjects.”
“The entries educate, entertain and engage their audience using the latest technologies at their disposal. We have seen important and sometimes harrowing stories brought to light, the power of the voice to captivate as well as exciting and engrossing coverage of sporting events. Once again the judges have had the hard but rewarding search for the best out of a very strong set of entries.”
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