NY Times Video on Sex Toy Biz in Islamic Pakistan Wins Concentra Award

Congrats to Adam Ellick, whose New York Times video, 'Cracking the Whip in Pakistan,' (pictured) won the 2010 Concentra Award for outstanding videojournalism, with a 10,000-euro prize.

The five-minute video, featured last year on KobreGuide, profiles two brothers who slyly run a million-dollar business in Karachi, amid a stronghold of radical Islam, manufacturing fetish and bondage gear for Westerners.

The Concentra Award for Breaking News -- for a piece that is shot, edited and broadcast in one day -- went to Casey Kauffman from Al Jazeera International for 'Baby Feras', the story of a Palestinian boy in desperate need of heart surgery who is trapped behind the Israeli blockade in Gaza.

'Baby Feras' was also previously showcased on KobreGuide.

See all the Concentra 2010 nominees here.

Concentra Award Nominees Announced

The nominations for this year’s Concentra Award for Outstanding Video Journalism have been announced.

The Concentra awards an annual prize to a journalist who, in terms of both substance and production, produced an interesting news item which was broadcast on a news program of a television station. By awarding this prize, Concentra aims to stimulate journalists to film and edit their own pieces, so they master the entire production process themselves. Established in 2004, the award comes with 10,000 euros (approx. $14,000 US) in prize money.

• The Winning Hood - Stef Biemans, VPRO, The Netherlands
• Sudanese trouser woman - Mia Bittar, VJ Movement, Sudan
• Young and homeless in Almaty – Yermek Boltayev, Radio Free Europe, Kazakhstan
• Cracking the whip in Pakistan - Adam Ellick, NY Times, USA
• Close Calls - Raul Gallego Abellan, Associated Press, Spain
• This is not like Iraq - Raul Gallego Abellan, Associated Press, Spain
• Baby Feras - Casey Kauffman, Al Jazeera International, UK
• Taxi Filippino: the disappearance of James Balao - Roel Nollet, TV Oost, Belgium
• Operation Moshtarak - Vaughan Smith, Channel4, UK
• The all-dwarf themepark: a human zoo? - Angel Villariano, VJ Movement, Spain

Final judging of the 10 nominated entries will take place on May 6th in Antwerp. The Concentra jury is chaired by Michael Rosenblum, CEO of Rosenblum TV.

Concentra Videojournalism Finalists

Here are the 8 finalists for the Concentra Videojournalism Award. The 10,000 Euro ($12,722 USD) prize will be presented next week in Brussels.



"On the Margins in Mauritania"
Travis Fox, Washington Post, USA




"Two Criminals on a Motorbike"
Stef Biemans, VPRO, Netherlands




"Up the Irrawaddy"
Subina Shrestha, Al Jazeera, Dubai




The Agony of Surviving
Travis Fox, Washington Post, USA




Taking Back the Streets
Bernard Weil, TheStar.com, Canada




The Healing Fields
Alexandra Garcia, Washington Post, USA




The Lost Tribe Secret Army of the CIA
Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera, Malaysia




A Man Chases His Money
Behrendt Carsten, ZDF, Germany


For this year's competition The Concentra Award received 114 entries from 46 news organizations from around the world. Final judging of the 8 nominated entries will take place on March 3 in Brussels.

Jury chairman Michael Rosenblum reports: :

There are 7 judges on the panel, all from various backgrounds and countries, so there were a lot of varied opinions as to what best exemplifies the world’s best video journalism. At the top end, it gets very subjective.

We are all looking forward to the Digital News Affairs Conference conference in Brussels. It has not been an easy year to put this together. The economic recession caused many sponsors to drop out, even after they had committed. Many participants found themselves unable to attend - their parent companies now unwilling to allow them to go. Many of our brother conferences simply folded tents this year and canceled. We were determined not to do so.

Notably, three of the finalists were produced by the Washington Post -- and two of those by Travis Fox, whose work is well represented on KobreGuide. The third Washington Post video, Alexandra Garcia's "The Healing Fields," was previously showcased on KobreGuide.com.