Winners of the AIBs 2023 revealed

12 November 2023

Winners of the AIBs 2023 revealed

Clive Myrie and Nicky Woolf acclaimed presenters of the year

20 winners of 19th annual international AIBs celebrating journalism and factual productions revealed in London

The winners of the 19^th annual AIBs have been revealed at a glittering awards dinner in London. The AIBs reward the best international journalism and factual productions across TV, radio, and digital platforms. Over 400 hours of content were submitted to the 2023 competition and 50 judges around the world evaluated the shortlist.

Guests from countries as diverse as South Korea, Norway, Canada, Germany, South Africa, the UAE, Taiwan, France, and the UK joined the celebration at Church House Westminster, right alongside Westminster Abbey. The evening’s host was veteran journalist and news anchor Simon McCoy.

Opening the evening, AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick said: “this competition is needed more than ever, as we face a world in increasing chaos and danger. In many areas, that chaos and danger threaten media freedom and the ability of journalists to hold power to account.

“That’s why journalists and producers need to shout about their work and remind everyone about the importance of journalism and the need to bring stories to global audiences.”

Guests at the awards night saw and heard clips from all the shortlisted entries. Many said that the range of journalism was so wide and absorbing that they want to watch and listen to all the programmes in full.

Collecting the award for the Specialist Factual TV/Video category was Sir Michael Palin, who was rewarded for his programme Michael Palin: Into Iraq.

Commenting on the AIBs awards night, Sir Michael said: “I’m interested in news, and I’m interested in how people report on different places. What struck me tonight is the very difficult areas which these people have gone into, to reveal what’s really going on.”

Across the 20 categories there were commendations from the judges, and an overall winner.

See the Winners’ and Finalist Book here.

NEWS COVERAGE

TV/VIDEO

Winner – The War in Ukraine – BBC News

Highly commended – Afghanistan after the Taliban – BBC News

NEWS COVERAGE

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

Winner – Partygate: The Inside Story – ITV News

Highly commended – The Death and Funeral of HM The Queen – BBC News Content for BBC News

SHORT FEATURE

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Hell on Earth: Darién Gap – The Deadly Migrant Route – ITN Productions for Channel 4 (Channel 4 News)

Highly commended – We CRASHED a BMW S1000 RR Superbike while filming with LEGEND Troy Corser – Deutsche Welle – DW

Highly commended – Eco-Warriors of Africa – VOA

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Eternal Spring (長春) – Lofty Sky Entertainment

Highly commended – Murder in the Pacific – An Oxford Scientific Films production for BBC

SPORTS JOURNALISM

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Fault Lines: Blood Sport – Al Jazeera English

SPECIALIST FACTUAL

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Michael Palin: Into Iraq – ITN Productions for Channel 5

Highly commended – The East End Through Time with Jay Blades – Hungry Jay Media for Channel 5

Highly commended – Spike Milligan: The Unseen Archive – Yeti Television

SPECIALIST FACTUAL

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

Winner – Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years On – BBC Long Form Audio

Highly commended – Finding Samantha – RTÉ

Highly commended – First Eat with Nakkiah Lui – Pipi Films for Audible Australia

INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY

TV/VIDEO

Winner – The Monkey Haters – BBC Eye / BBC World Service

Highly commended – Wayne Couzens: Killer in Plain Sight – Flicker Productions for Channel 5

INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

Winner – The Shamima Begum Story – BBC News Long Form Audio

Highly commended – The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome – Project Brazen / Goat Rodeo

HUMAN INTEREST

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

Winner – Love, Janessa – BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts by Antica Productions and Telltale Industries

Highly Commended – This Coal Life – Radio Workshop NPC

HUMAN INTEREST

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Lyra – Erica Starling Productions for Channel 4

Highly Commended – Murder in Mayfair – BBC Arabic, BBC Current Affairs

Highly Commended – Nazanin – 649 Media for Channel 4

SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Under Poisoned Skies – BBC News Arabic

Highly Commended – TechXplore Japan – Electric Eel Studios for BBC World Service

Highly commended – We Can Do Hard Things – Very! for CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd

NATURAL HISTORY

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Ningaloo Nyinggulu – Artemis Media in Association with Matter of Factual for ABC and Love Nature

Highly Commended – 101 East: Mining the Pacific – Al Jazeera English

Highly Commended – Australia’s Wild Odyssey – Wild Pacific Media for Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Arte France

POLITICS and BUSINESS

TV/VIDEO

Winner – India: The Modi Question – BBC Current Affairs

Highly commended – The Labour Files – Al Jazeera I-Unit

Highly commended – Sudan and the Long reach of Russia’s Ukraine War – CNN Worldwide

DOCUDRAMA

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

Winner – Before-After: Anna Lindh 2003 – Swedish Radio Drama

DOCUDRAMA

TV/VIDEO

Winner – The Confession – ITN Productions for Amazon Prime Video

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

DOCUMENTARY

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Panorama: Mariupol – The People’s Story – Top Hat Productions/Hayloft Productions

Highly Commended – Our World – I Call Him by His Name – International Current Affairs, BBC

Highly Commended – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper – The Trek: A Migrant Trail to America – CNN Worldwide

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
DOCUMENTARY

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Saudi Arabia Wields Cinema as a Tool of Soft Power – France 24 and Nicolas Bertrand

Highly Commended – Kenya – Fighting for Water | Off The Grid – TRT WORLD

PRESENTER of the YEAR

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

Winner – Nicky Wool

PRESENTER of the YEAR

TV/VIDEO

Winner – Clive Myrie

The 2024 AIBs – the 20^th that the Association for International Broadcasting will stage – are set to open for entry in April, with the awards event in London, shortly after the US Presidential Elections.

Extraordinary journalism and factual productions set to be rewarded in the AIBs 2023

14 September 2023

Extraordinary journalism and factual productions set to be rewarded in the AIBs 2023

80 companies in 23 countries competing for one of the prestigious AIBs

The extraordinarily varied shortlist for the 19^th annual AIBs has been revealed by the Association for International Broadcasting. Over the (northern hemisphere) summer, hundreds of hours of TV, radio and podcasts have been watched and listened to by the shortlisting team and now work from a remarkable 23 countries has reached the final judging.

Each year, the not-for-profit AIBs search out the world’s best journalism and factual productions and this year’s shortlisted work cover an immense range of subjects. The war in Ukraine, unsurprisingly, features across many categories as the devastation and its effect on Ukrainians of all ages is reported – often in horrific detail – to audiences globally. There are documentaries on Britain’s health service and protests in New Zealand against Covid vaccinations. The desperate flight of migrants and the effects of climate change are other subjects within the extensive shortlist, alongside lighter stories on great pandas and the Tasmanian tiger.

“Each year the AIB is honoured to be allowed to showcase the most extraordinary work and remarkable stories produced by journalists and programme makers in all parts of the world,” says Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting. “It is truly humbling that so many organisations choose to submit entries to the AIBs, and to ask our global panel of judges to evaluate their work. As an organisation, we pay tribute to their bravery and tenacity in telling stories that really matter to audiences in all parts of the world.”

Demonstrating the international flavour of the competition, work in this year’s AIBs has been produced in English and 19 other languages and 80 organisations are represented in the shortlist.

The complete shortlist, covering 20 categories, is available at https://theaibs.tv/AIBs-2023/Shortlist-2023/AIBs-2023-shortlist.pdf.

The AIBs 2023 will be presented in London on 10 November during the traditional gala evening that regularly brings guests together from Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Reserve your places at this major celebration of success here.

The Event Partner for the AIBs 2023 is Taiwan’s international media company, Rti – Radio Taiwan International. This year, Rti is celebrating its 95^th anniversary.

ABC brings home a swag of awards from New York Festivals

26 April 2023

ABC brings home a swag of awards from New York Festivals

ABC content has proven itself to be world class with its screen programmes taking home a number of wins including five gold awards at the 2023 New York Festival Awards.

Factual programmes and the ABC’s in house creative agency ABC Made were the big winners, with Catalyst specials taking home 3 awards and the ABC 90 Years campaign awarded two gold awards.

The two-part Catalyst special Keep on Dancing was awarded a gold in the Health/Medical Information category. The heart-warming special formed part of our ABC Your Move programming and followed a group of over 65’s as they attempted to slow the effects of aging through dance.

Catalyst’s Miracle Babies: Operation Hope was awarded gold in the Health/ Medical Information category. The program took an intimate look at the awe-inspiring world of fetal surgery in a story of hope and trailblazing medicine as parents face agonising decisions about their baby’s future.

Creative National Science Week Catalyst special Australia’s Favourite Tree was awarded a silver award in the Environment & Ecology category. The programme profiled Australia’s unique tree species and saw 270,000 votes cast to determine which tree was Australia’s favourite.

The latest iteration of the incredibly successful social experiment, Old People’s Home for Teenagers also took home a gold award in the Social Issues category adding to the programmes impressive run at home and on the world stage.

This season saw the uplifting series swap pre-schoolers for teenagers to see if they could transform the lives of older people and teenagers amid an epidemic of loneliness.

Of the awards, Richard Huddleston, ABC Acting Head of Factual and Culture said “I am delighted to see our content being recognised at such a prestigious global event. These awards are a testament to the quality of Australian storytelling and an acknowledgement of the creativity and passion that our teams pour into their work.”

The ABC’s brand campaign for our ABC 90 celebration was awarded two gold awards in the Station/Image Promotion and Station/Network ID categories.

Produced in-house by the ABC’s creative agency ABC Made, the campaign was filmed in four locations across Australia with ninety people in each location performing the iconic Bruce Woodley AO and Dobe Newton song, I am Australian.

ABC Director Audiences Leisa Bacon described the campaign as “A true celebration of our commitment to connecting Australians for the last 90 Years.”

The New York Festivals Radio Awards saw podcasts Pink Diamond Heist, Let Us In! and Beauty Queens Who Want to Save the World all recognised as finalists.

The AIBs 2023 – 19th global journalism and factual awards open for entry

5 April 2023

The AIBs 2023 – 19th global journalism and factual awards open for entry

Global competition inviting entries across 19 categories to showcase the world’s best journalism and factual productions across TV, radio and digital platforms

The Association for International Broadcasting has revealed the 19 categories in its 19th global competition that celebrates the world’s best journalism and factual programming.

Each year this renowned and respected competition – called the AIBs – attracts entries in many languages from all over the world. In 2022, more than 400 hours of content was submitted to the AIBs.

New for 2023 are two Presenter of the Year awards – one for TV, the other for radio (or their digital equivalents). There is also a new category rewarding the most innovative docudrama.

“The AIBs are immensely popular in the global media industry,” comments Simon Spanswick, AIB chief executive. “We are looking forward to seeing the extraordinary range of stories that are told around the world, helping journalists and programme makers to showcase their work on the global stage. We are privileged that so much remarkable work is entrusted to the AIBs each year and we look forward to celebrating success in our 19^th contest.”

The 19 categories in the AIBs 2023 are:

TV/VIDEO/DIGITAL

PRESENTER of the YEAR
DOCUDRAMA
SHORT FEATURE
NATURAL HISTORY
SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY
SPECIALIST FACTUAL
SPORTS JOURNALISM
HUMAN INTEREST
NEWS COVERAGE
POLITICS and BUSINESS
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS DOCUMENTARY
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DOCUMENTARY
INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST

PRESENTER of the YEAR
DOCUDRAMA
SPECIALIST FACTUAL
HUMAN INTEREST
NEWS COVERAGE
INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY

The competition is open for entry until 30 June 2023. Full information on all the categories, including what the international panel of judges will be looking for, is online at http://theaibs.tv.

The awards will be presented at the annual AIBs gala evening taking place this year on 10 November at Church House Westminster in the heart of London. The event attracts guests from all over the world who travel to London to meet colleagues, exchange ideas and to discover if they have won one of the coveted AIBs. Highlights of the 2022 event can be seen at https://vimeo.com/792992840/214dea2fb8.

The AIBs are run by the not-for-profit Association for International Broadcasting, the industry body for the international broadcasting and media industry.

The AIBs 2021 – watch part one live

11 November 2021

The AIBs 2021 – watch part one live

The AIBs 2021 will screen on Friday 12 and Monday 15 November at 1500GMT.

You can watch the first part with 11 awards on Friday 12 November on YouTube, live at 1500-1640GMT.

Read the guide to the two programmes with details of running order and credits of programme makers here.