In honor of press freedom, Chinese journalist who uncovered SARS receives prestigious UN award
Bangkok Post
Monday, May 2, 2005
By Achara Ashayagachat
Chinese journalist Cheng Yizhong, who was imprisoned for five months and barred from resuming his profession after revealing the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in China in 2003, has been awarded a prestigious United Nations-sponsored prize for press freedom.
Mr Cheng, who also wrote an article on the alleged beating to death of a young graphic artist in a Guangzhou police station, was named the winner of the 2005 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco)/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on the recommendation of an independent jury of media professionals from across the globe.
The $25,000 (one million baht) prize, created in 1997 on the initiative of Unesco, was named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist assassinated by thugs from the country's drug cartels in front of the office of his newspaper, El Espectador, in 1986.
The honour is awarded annually to an individual or organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world. It pays particular attention when this has been achieved in the face of danger. World Press Freedom Day, which is marked tomorrow, will be celebrated this year in Dakar, Senegal.
As editor of the Guangzhou-based daily Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolis Daily), Mr Cheng, 40, broke new ground in Chinese journalism. His editorial independence and professional know-how helped turn his paper into one of the most successful in the country, Unesco said.
Jailed for five months with two of his colleagues, he was released in August 2004. While no formal charges were laid, he has been barred from resuming his profession.
"I feel relieved and comforted, but I also feel sad," Mr Cheng said in saying thanks for the prize. "All we have done is act according to our conscience. Unfortunately we have had to pay a price for following our conscience.''
Date Posted: 5/2/2005
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