United States Agency for Global Media

Radio Free Asia video series wins National Murrow Award

October 13, 2020

Washington, D.C. — Radio Free Asia (RFA) applauds the Radio Television Digital News Association’s (RTDNA) announcement of RFA as the winner of a National Murrow Award for its “Gray Rhino” series. The series, made up of four short videos, focuses on issues in China’s financial sector and the problems they may pose to the country’s citizenry. This marks the second consecutive year RFA has won the prestigious award.

“RFA’s Mandarin Service deserves full credit for producing a unique series that has shed light on the Chinese economy and its true impact in China,” said Min Mitchell, RFA’s Managing Director for East Asia. “As we have seen with the outbreak of Covid-19 and the authoritarian crackdown in Hong Kong, growing distrust in China of the official narratives makes products like ‘Gray Rhino’ all the more relevant.

“This award is a proud moment for all of us at RFA and is a reminder of the importance of investigative journalism in closed countries.”

Released in February 2019, when many Chinese households were beginning to feel the negative effects of China’s economic instability, RFA Mandarin’s “Gray Rhino” series takes an in-depth look at major economic problems, such as bad debt in China’s financial and government sectors, and the country’s real estate bubble. With the series, the Mandarin Service’s digital team has provided clear, easy-to-understand analyses of complex issues that are neglected in Chinese domestic media. As of October 2020, the series has reached nearly 400,000 views on YouTube.

RFA’s Mandarin Service also won a National Murrow Award last year for “The Women Against the State,” a documentary on China’s “709” Crackdown – a nationwide roundup of lawyers and legal activists that began in July 2015 – and the collective actions of wives of those held in custody at the time. Both of these award-winning productions were created by the Mandarin Service’s digital team. RFA joins CBS News Radio, CNN, and NPR, among others, as winners of this year’s National Murrow Awards.