A SHORT film about a refused asylum seeker living alone in one of Glasgow’s massive Red Road tower blocks, an expose of the plight of a group of Eritrean athletes in Scotland and the story of a Ugandan who fled his country to escape persecution under anti-gay laws all feature among the finalists in this year’s Refugee Week Scotland Media Awards.
The awards, staged by The British Red Cross, Scottish Refugee Council and the National Union of Journalists, will be presented at a ceremony at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket on Friday, 20 June, which is also World Refugee Day
The Refugee Week Scotland Media Awards aim to encourage fair, accurate and balanced coverage of asylum and refugee issues in Scotland. The competition is open to all journalists working for media outlets in Scotland and is judged by a panel of industry figures
The presentation ceremony is one of the highlights of Refugee Week Scotland – a festival of events co-ordinated by Scottish Refugee Council, celebrating the contribution of refugees to the UK.
Derek Masterton, senior media relations officer for the British Red Cross in Scotland and a spokesman for the awards organisers, said: “Once again the judges were faced with an enormously difficult task in selecting finalists from a very strong field – a fact that speaks volumes for the high standard of journalism in Scotland.
“It is heartening to see, year on year, the growing amount of balanced coverage being given to asylum and refugee issues in the Scottish media and all our finalists have well and truly earned their places.”
To add to the festive air, Glasgow’s ‘orchestra of the people’, Blochestra, will be performing a special guest spot during the ceremony.
The full line-up of finalists reads:
Chris Leslie (independent)
Lucy Adams (BBC Scotland)
Billy Briggs (Freelance/Sunday Mail)
Judith Duffy (Sunday Herald)
Doug Gillon (Herald and Times)
Iman Tajik (freelance)
Colin Mearns (Herald and Times)
Cordelia O’Neill (Glasgow Now)
Rachael Fulton (STV)
Daily Record Online
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Contact: Derek Masterton, British Red Cross or Pauline Diamond, Scottish Refugee Council
Phone: 01418914016
Email: dmasterton@redcross.org.uk
Website: http://www.redcross.org.uk and http://www.refugeeweekscotland.com
