Asian journalists invited to vie for Kate Webb Prize

THE international news agency AFP is inviting locally-hired journalists in Asia to submit entries for its annual Kate Webb Prize worth 3,000 euros (about US $3,900).

Applications should be made by April 30. The winner will be announced in May.

The prize is named after Kate Webb, one of the finest correspondents to have worked for AFP, who died in 2007 at the age of 64. Kate would have celebrated her 70th birthday last March 24. The prize is awarded for exceptional work produced by Asian journalists operating in dangerous or difficult circumstances.

“The Kate Webb Award offers international recognition for journalistic excellence to locally-hired journalists reporting the news, very often at the risk of life or liberty, from across the Asia-Pacific region,” said AFP’s Asia-Pacific Director Gilles Campion.

Born in New Zealand, Kate Webb earned a reputation as a fearless reporter while covering wars and other historic events in Asia during a career spanning four decades. She made her name in Vietnam and also worked in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, India, South Korea and the Middle East. She was known for her kindness and compassion and became a mentor to younger Asian journalists.

The prize is administered by the AFP Foundation – a non-profit organization set up to promote press freedom through training journalists in developing countries – and by the Webb family.

This year’s prize is open to local reporters, photographers and broadcast journalists in Asia, including photographers, for work done between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012.

Stringers and freelance journalists may submit entries as well as people employed by local media.

Articles and broadcast material may be submitted in English or any Asian national language, provided that there is English translation which has been certified as accurate.

Details of the prize are available on the Kate Webb Prize Facebook page. Applications should be sent to [email protected].