Sharif Khiam Ahmed

I went through one of the toughest times in my journalism career from July 15 to August 5, 2024. Being able to report on the mass uprising against the dictatorship, which began with a nonviolent student demonstration, was undoubtedly an unforgettable experience. We closely observed how the violent actions taken by the overthrown Awami League government to suppress the student movement led to the complete collapse of the party. Throughout this period, I was mostly accompanied by my senior colleague, Kamran Reza Chowdhury, whom I considered a brother-in-arms. We traveled mostly on his yellow Vespa. After Sheikh Hasina's escape, when people rushed to her residence, Ganobhaban, we both left this Vespa at the gate and entered. After roughly two hours, we attempted to depart, but the Vespa was nowhere. But Kamran Bhai has no regrets about losing the Vespa, as he was so excited to be a part of this historic event. He was only stating what we had seen! We should also document these stories...

Memories of Home , our visual story series on Myanmar memories of the Rohingya living in Bangladesh, won the Telly Award in three categories in the US in May last year. The two trophies for the award came from New York to Washington DC, and finally to Bangladesh. Coincidentally, I received the Edward R. Murrow Award trophy from FedEx on the same date in 2022.  Finding this on Facebook Memory surprised me. But as I took the trophy this time from Emma Say, Head of Video at BenarNews, accepting the honor was much more meaningful for me. A delight also comes from being awarded along with Abdur Rahman . As a local journalist from any place outside of the capital succeeds, I feel thrilled. That's where I began my journalism career as well. As I mentioned earlier, " Memories of Home " was a life-changing event for me as a journalist. I've never had to spend as much time in the field and at the table while producing a series.  Many thanks to Kate Beddall, my managing editor...

Edward R. Murrow Award That trophy, which is the only one I've got in my career, has finally arrived. It's most probably the first Edward R. Murrow Award, a prestigious national prize in the United States, to reach Bangladesh.  Since 1971, the Radio Television Digital News Association ( RTDNA ) has recognized outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Murrow Awards. It flew hundreds of kilometres from Washington and landed at Dhaka Airport on 26 December 2021. Unfortunately, it took a long time to pay the customs fee and solve other issues, including FedEx 's lack of cooperation. Even so, I am delighted to receive the award. I am grateful to Kate Beddall , my managing editor, for taking the initiative to collect a copy of the award from RTDNA and send it to Bangladesh. At the same time, I'd want to thank all of my colleagues at BenarNews and Radio Free Asia (RFA). Above all, I'd want to dedicate this recognition to the COVID volunteers, for whose g...