British TV stations win news International Emmys

Britain's Sky News and Channel 4 won International Emmy Awards in the news and current affairs categories for their coverage of the Taliban in Pakistan.

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the awards Monday night at a ceremony at the Frederick P. Rose Hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center during which U.S. Emmy Awards were handed out for news and documentary programming.

Sky News received the International Emmy in the news category for its March 2009 report that revealed that the Taliban were in control of a large part of Pakistan.

Sky News' Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay became the first foreign journalist to enter the Swat Valley when it came under Taliban control, and Sky News provided graphic images of masked gunmen carrying out public floggings and summary executions.

The International Emmy in the current affairs category went to "Dispatches - Pakistan's Taliban Generation," a special produced by October Film for Channel 4.

In the show, Pakistani journalist Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy revealed how the Pakistani Taliban are recruiting increasingly younger fighters from small madrassas in deprived neighborhoods to carry out deadly attacks both inside and outside Pakistan.

"We congratulate the men and women behind these groundbreaking reports." said Bruce L. Paisner, the International Academy's president & CEO, in a news release. "Despite the danger surrounding them, they are committed to journalistic excellence and we are pleased to be recognizing their outstanding work with an Emmy."

Nominees in 10 other International Emmy categories recognizing excellence in television productions outside the U.S. will be announced on Oct. 4. The awards will be presented at a special ceremony on Nov. 22 in New York.


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