Friday 27 November 2015

Winner: Amnesty International Best New Journalist


My reporting of the Ebola virus outbreak in Liberia was recognised at the Amnesty International Media Awards last night, where I was handed the Gaby Rado Memorial Award.

The articles published in the Sunday Times, the Observer and the Independent on Sunday sought to highlight the broader impact of the disease on already impoverished communities.

The stories showed how people were dying not just from the virus itself, but from fear and as a result of the government and international community's inadequate response.

They also highlighted the vital role local NGOs played in the response, particularly charity Street Child.

My entry as presented at the awards ceremony by BBC world affairs correspondent Mike Thomson



Part of my acceptance speech



The Gaby Rado Memorial Award recognises the work of a journalist who has been covering human rights issues for less than five years.

Click here for links to the winning articles.

Friday 16 October 2015

Shortlisted: 2015 Amnesty International Media Awards

I have been shortlisted for the 2015 Gaby Rado Memorial Award by global NGO Amnesty International. This recognises the work of a journalist who has been covering human rights issues for less than five years.

The nomination in particular follows articles I published on Ebola for the Sunday Times, the Observer and the Independent on Sunday.

The other journalists on the shortlist are the Independent’s deputy news editor Rob Hastings and freelance investigative journalist Maeve McClenaghan.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Barbican in central London on Thursday 26th November.

Amnesty’s Media Awards recognise excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledge journalism’s significant contribution to the UK public’s awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

Read more about the 2015 awards here.

Saturday 2 May 2015

The Independent Magazine - Displaced young adults are living in a graveyard in Liberia's capital Monrovia

"Anyone would guess it was a prison. Its four-metre-high walls are topped with coiled barbed wire and punctuated with watchtowers. Its tall metal gates are locked. Yet a glimpse through one door, left slightly ajar, reveals its inmates died years ago. The site in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, is an abandoned cemetery where no one has been buried for decades. The walls aren't there to confine the dead, but to keep out the living – people whom Liberian society has forgotten who inhabit its crumbling tombs.

"There was a body there, but I took it out and threw it away," says Junior Toe. A veteran tomb dweller, as those occupying the cemetery are known, he has lost count of his years living among the dead. Standing on the worn edge of an open tomb, he peers into his second-hand bedroom. The empty space, about two-metres deep, is finished with stained green tiles crossed by vines. "When you look for a tomb, the body can't be too fresh," he advises. "It has to be really dead, then you can clear it away into a bag..."

Read the full article on Independent.co.uk.



I made two trips to Liberia to gather material for this exclusive story, which has never been reported before in the UK.

It was only possible with the help of charity Street Child which is supporting the young people living in the cemetery.

The pictures were taken by award-winning freelance photographer Hannah Maule-Ffinch.

Thursday 2 April 2015

Devex - DfID to increase trade role in future - Greening


“The U.K. Department for International Development could play an increasing role in trade in the future, according U.K. Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening.

Speaking exclusively to Devex in London after delivering her final speech before the U.K. general elections on May 7, Greening said the department was progressively looking to enhance economies in developing countries…”


Read the full article at Devex.com