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Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2002 -- Voice of America Beijing news correspondent Leta Hong Fincher and videojournalist Brian Padden were named winners of this year’s Cowan Award for Humanitarian Reporting at a ceremony held at VOA headquarters.

Padden's TV piece, entitled "Never Too Late," profiles a former prostitute in Zimbabwe who is dying of AIDS and her struggle to teach AIDS prevention. By traveling alone and using a small digital television camera, Padden was able to obtain deeply personal, on-camera interviews with many AIDS victims. 

Fincher's two-part radio feature, "China-Three Gorges--Corruption" revealed the forced relocation of local farmers and government corruption tied to the massive Yangzi River dam project in China. At considerable risk, Fincher traveled to the remote region of the dam project and conducted clandestine interviews to get the true picture of relocation for the local farmers and peasants. In fact, she was taken into custody and threatened by authorities with expulsion for her reporting.

Geoffrey Cowan, former VOA Director and now Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at USC, joined current VOA Director Robert Reilly in presenting each winner with $2,000 and a plaque for their outstanding work in humanitarian reporting. "The Cowan Award signifies the importance of reporting on human rights issues here at VOA," said Reilly. "If we reliably report on humanitarian issues, we can create an important multiplier effect, educating people about human rights and humanitarian issues," he added.

An external panel of judges which included ABC News correspondent Linda Douglass; Los Angeles Times correspondent Johanna Neuman; Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, International Human Rights Law Institute, DePaul University College of Law; NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten; and The Guardian columnist Jonathan Steele selected the winners. Broadcast submissions were reviewed for their significance, integrity, clarity and writing as well as production quality.

The privately endowed Cowan Award, which was established in honor of Louis and Geoffrey Cowan, the second and twenty-second Directors of the Voice of America respectively, is presented annually to a VOA broadcaster for distinguished humanitarian reporting. 

The Voice of America is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government. VOA provides over 1,000 hours of programming on radio, TV and the Internet every week to an estimated audience of 94 million worldwide. Programs are produced and broadcast in English and 52 other languages.

For additional information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at (202) 619-2538 or send email to pubaff@voa.gov.