Voice of America Washington, DC 20237  Tel: (202) 619-2538 Fax: (202) 619-1241 E-mail: pubaff@ibb.gov

Washington, D.C., February 7, 2000—VOA videojournalist Brian Padden and videotape editor Jack Slomnicki won VOA’s first silver medal in the category of Television News Special at the New York Festivals in January.  Their five-minute feature follows a young woman as she stops car after car at a checkpoint on the Albanian border, searching for any news of her relatives during the Kosovo war.

After talking with the occupants of each passing car, she turned to Padden and his camera and related her emotions.  Her determination finally paid off and her tearful reunion with a cousin who gave her the first news of her loved ones was captured on film.

“Originally, we had gone to the Albanian border to film the work of refugee workers,” said Padden, “but we found this woman’s search far more compelling.”  Padden and Slomnicki’s feature is representative of the work currently underway by VOA’s TV Project.

The TV Project is a joint effort between the Voice of America and WORLDNET Television to teach radio and television journalists how to use small, hand-held video cameras to produce news and feature programming.

The New York Festivals is a prestigious television industry-wide competition with more than 3,000 entries from 43 countries.  ABC News won the gold medal in the same category.

The Voice of America broadcasts news and information in 53 languages to an estimated audience of 91 million people each week. VOA began broadcasting in 1942 and is part of the International Broadcasting Bureau, which became an autonomous U.S. Government civilian broadcast service on October 1, 1999, under the authority of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Contact: George Mackenzie
Phone: 202-619-2538
E-mail: pubaff@voa.gov