Organizers for the 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Awards announced that freelance war correspondent and MRE board member, Alex Quade’s “Chinook Down” has won the award in the category of National Online for Writing for her video report for The New York Times/nytimes.com. This is her second, consecutive National Murrow Award win.
War reporter, Alex Quade has made a career out of “going to bad places” as an embedded reporter. In body armor, helmet and anti-ballistic eyewear protection, she has covered U.S. soldiers and special operations in war zones around the globe including Iraq and Afghanistan. Extreme storytelling and silent risk-taking lie at the heart of what she does.
It was an extremely close call with death that inspired Quade’s video special, “Chinook Down”, for The New York Times website. Her short documentary reveals the full story and human toll behind a WikiLeaks headline of a Chinook helicopter shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Afghanistan, killing all onboard. Quade was supposed to be on that helicopter. She survived to report firsthand on the fierce firefight and recovery. For five years, she gathered material on the attack, interviewing pilots who provided air support to rescue teams on the ground, obtaining previously unreleased Pentagon documents via Freedom of Information Act appeals, and video. The result of Quade’s investigation is a 10-minute video for the New York Times that brought closure to the families; as one soldier who had long suffered from PTSD told her, “You helped me come home from the war.”
To view the film trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8en28CsSI-E.
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Edward R. Murrow Awards recognizes work of the highest quality produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world. “This year’s winning entries were outstanding examples of electronic journalism at its finest,” said Mike Cavender, executive director of RTDNA.
‘Chinook Down’ announcement seen on Times Square, New York City.
