Espesyal ang tagumpay ni Karen Davila sa UNICEF Billy Balbastro
IT’S hardwork for several months and her vision of what she wished to accomplish in her full-length documentary on television on the realities of children languishing in over-crowded jails that won for broadcast journalist Karen Davila of ABS-CBN to win an international accolade from the UNICEF.
Only the other week (October 28), Karen’s
Batang Preso won the much-coveted and prestigious UNICEF Child Rights Award in Hong Kong. The Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU) and the Cable Satellite Broadcasting Association (CASBAA) adjudged Karen’s documentary for ABS-CBN’s
The Correspondents as the only winner out of 50 entries from 20 broadcasters across 12 countries in Asia Pacific region.
The annual event gives only the UNICEF award to one winner each year.
Karen’s documentary on minors in prison, with crimes as petty as sniffing solvent to theft and robbery exposed the harsh realities of jailed children.
Michael Peschardt of BBC, one of the judges, says: "The documentary was frightening strong, you could not but feel identified with the story. And interestingly enough, there were other programs from other countries, but… no doubt, the story from the Philippines was the strongest and most well put together than all the ones we saw."
Asia Pacific Regional Communications Adviser of UNICEF, Madeline Kinner is impressed by Karen’s handling of the story. As she puts it: "Karen Davila’s piece on Juvenile Justice is really a landmark because of its excellence in programming on children… educates people… and is very inspirational and compassionate with the way it delves with children having problems with the justice system."
Karen feels a special victory since she really worked for months on it, looking for perfect case studies to tell the strongest and most moving stories.
"Responsibilidad din natin to give these children the voice," Karen insists now. "Kinalimutan na ang marami sa kanila sa loob ng kulungan. Sila’y simbolo ng ating kahinaan, our lapses, bilang isang lipunan at isang bansa. These children just want a second lease on life."
This was the gist of her victory speech when she picked up her award. She also acknowledged the efforts of her segment producers Karen Namora and Chiara Zambrano as well as her cameraman, "because without them the ‘powerful’ images of these children won’t have come across on screen."
Only last July 2005, Karen was also awarded the "Broadcast Journalist of the Year" distinction by the Rotary Club of Manila for her in-depth and love coverage of the Quezon landslide and tragedy last December 2004.
http://www.abante.com.ph/issue/nov0905/main.htm