The Communication for Social Change Award was established in 2006 to recognize significant contributions made by individuals’ practitioners and organisations to empower marginalized communities. The award is administered by the Centre for Communication and Social Change (CfCSC) at the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Queensland, Brisbane. This year’s winners are
Radio Free Sarawak
Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) uses a combination of ICTs and shortwave technology to bring critical media perspectives to extremely isolated rural indigenous communities in the State of Sarawak, Malaysia. These remote communities have limited road access and can only be reached by river, foot, or drives of sometimes more than 15 hours along rough logging roads. The radio allows local people to phone-in and get engaged in order to inform, empower and educate these communities about their human and media rights.
Presenter Peter John Jaban was recently named one of the 100 Information Heroes by Reporters Without Borders.
Barat Ali Batoor
Barat Ali Batoor (www.batoor.com) is a photojournalist and Hazara refugee from Afghanistan who has been capturing images of his people, targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His photographs have been published in international papers such as The Washington Post. He received death threats from the Taliban and had to flee his home country.
In May 2013, Barat survived the boat ride from Indonesia to Australia. The photographs of his journey won him the prestigious Walkley Award for Excellence in Photojournalism for 2013.
Find out more in CfCSC dedicated webpage.