By: E&P Staff The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has named Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas and Burmese investigative reporter May Thingyan Hein as the 2007 Knight International Journalism Award winners.
The award, given by the Knight International Journalism Fellowships Program recognizes individuals who have raised the standards of media excellence in their countries.
Abbas, 32, is the first blogger to win the award. His blog,
Misr Digital , regularly breaks stories on subjects generally avoided by local media, such as protests, corruption, and police brutality. His first-hand reports, videos and photographs have attracted thousands of readers and the attention of mainstream news outlets, which have begun to pick up his hard-hitting stories.
Burma?s May Thingyan Hein, 33, stands out for her coverage of controversial topics such as corruption, HIV/AIDS and poverty. A freelance journalist for several publications, she specializes in investigative stories in a country where journalists must submit their reports in advance to officials.
Her breaking coverage of the spread of the bird flu into Burma, for example, forced officials to acknowledge the epidemic.
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