RFI, Arte, Le Monde sweep top French war reporting Bayeux awards

Two RFI journalists have won the top radio prize at the prestigious Bayeux War Correspondents' Awards, announced on Saturday. Also honoured are European television channel Arte, the Washington Post newspaper, and the BBC for reports from conflict zones ranging from Syria to Afghanistan.

In the thick of the action. AFP's Anthony Wallace won the Public Choice Bayeux Award for his work during the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. AFP/Anthony Wallace

Radio France International's Sonia Ghezali and Wahlah Shahzaib won the top radio prize for their report on a maternity centre in Afghanistan run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders MSF in the wake of an attack.

The judges praised the work as "a magnificent piece of reporting, imbued with a real sense of being on the spot, full of atmosphere".

🔴 URGENT - Prix Bayeux: Sonia Ghezali, correspondante de RFI en Afghanistan, récompensée https://t.co/myzq7CfKDC pic.twitter.com/bY72aU26nx

— RFI (@RFI) October 10, 2020

The Grand Format Television Trophy went to Arte for its report "Syria: Trapped in Idlib" by Suzanne Allant, Yamaan Khatib and Fadi Al-Halabi on the plight of four million civilians trapped in a northern rebel bastion and facing attacks from Syrian government troops and their Russian allies.

The Television Trophy was awarded to the BBC for a report by John Sudworth and Wang Xiping on ethnic Uighur Muslims in China.

The Chinese region of Xinjiang is home to millions of Uighurs who have lived there for decades.

Rights groups say hundreds of thousands have been detained in camps without trial, but China argues they voluntarily attend centres which combat "extremism".

Printed press well rewarded

For photos, the prize went to the Washington Post for "The longest war" -- a reportage on the Taliban in Afghanistan by Lorenzo Tugnoli from the Italian agency Contrasto.

In text, Allan Kaval of French daily Le Monde was honoured for his report on "The slow deaths of jihadist prisoners in north-eastern Syria."

The public choice award went to Anthony Wallace of Agence France-Presse for a photo reportage entitled "Hong Kong: A Popular Revolt." It also won the second jury prize.

First awarded in 1994, the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy prizes have since honoured exceptional reporting on war and unrest.