RFA’s “A River in Peril: The Mekong Under China’s Control” wins silver
Radio Free Asia (RFA) won a silver award in the category of Best Online News Program at the 2017 New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards gala for its investigative web series on the impact of China’s rapid development on the Mekong River, “A River in Peril: The Mekong Under China’s Control.”
“A River in Peril” tells the story of Southeast Asia’s longest river, on which more than 60 million depend for their food, drinking water, and livelihoods. Including personal accounts from people of all walks of life from six countries in addition to analysis by some the world’s foremost authorities on the Mekong, the project follows on RFA’s award-winning 2009 web series “Traveling Down the Mekong,” which chronicled the early phases of the waterway’s damming. RFA revisited many locations from its 2009 series in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, interviewing people who have both witnessed and endured the drastic changes since then. RFA’s founding executive editor Dan Southerland led the project as a follow-up to the 2009 project, which he also produced.
The awards ceremony took place in Manhattan on June 19, 2017.