Abdul Kareem Shaibany, 2016 winner
Alhurra correspondent Abdul Kareem Shaibany is one of three MBN correspondents recognized for their bravery and integrity as they have taken extreme risks to impart news and information to serve the public across the Middle East and North Africa.
Yemen’s war has brought catastrophic consequences resulting in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Due to airstrikes, shelling, and street-by-street urban combat, civilians and journalists are at constant risk of death and injury. Many local journalists have fled the country in fear of widespread violence as well as abductions, kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, and torture.
Shaibany faced grave dangers to keep viewers informed of events in Yemen. His reporting documented the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has affected more than half of Yemen’s population of 24 million. His wide circle of contacts enabled him to present balanced reporting, overcoming the immense challenge of lack of access to sources which covering Yemen’s war entails.
With constant integrity, fairness and courage, Shaibany provided breathtaking reports and showcased television journalistic excellence in Yemen’s war coverage. He helped viewers understand the country’s most severe crisis in years through daily reports on the fight between forces loyal to the beleaguered President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and those loyal to Houthis, who forced Hadi to flee the capital Sana’a.
His wide circle of contacts enabled him to present balanced reporting, overcoming the immense challenge of lack of access to sources which covering Yemen’s war entails. He traveled to several dangerous locations outside the capital Sana’a wherever the story took him. He documented the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has affected more than half of Yemen’s population of 24 million and Yemen’s looming political and economic downfall by accurately reporting significant issues and events such as peaceful protests for democracy, the threat of extremism, the capture of Sana’a by the Houthis, peace talks between warring parties and the swap of prisoners.