United States Agency for Global Media

Voice of America wins Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in social media

October 13, 2020

Washington, D.C. — Voice of America’s multimedia project, “The Worth of a Girl,” about the practice of child marriage and how it affects women’s lives around the globe, has won a 2020 national award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. RTDNA honored the project on Saturday, October 10, with an Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in the social media category.

Reported in 12 languages for the web, social media, as well as in a television documentary, “The Worth of a Girl” explored the root causes of child marriage across cultural, religious and national boundaries, detailing the economic value placed on young women. The project documented the experiences of girls and women living in Africa, North and South America, Asia and Europe who married as children. According to UNICEF, the practice of child marriage has condemned one in five women across the globe to lives of limited education and career opportunities.

“I’m so proud of the entire VOA team that worked across multiple language services on this groundbreaking project,” said Dr. Elez Biberaj, VOA’s Acting Director. “This great body of work, recognized by the RTDNA judges, has given a voice and face to the millions of young girls whose lives are touched by child marriage.”

In addition to this RTDNA Edward R. Murrow award, “The Worth of a Girl” also received a 2020 Clarion Award in the Online Journalism – Special Feature category and a 2020 New York Festivals Silver Medal.

The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow set as a standard for the profession of electronic journalism.

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