UN video on Timor-Leste wins best political story prize at CNN conference

A United Nations video production on the emergence of Timor-Leste as the world’s newest nation has been named the best political story of the last year by the Cable News Network (CNN).

The 2003 CNN World Report Conference named “East Timor: Birth of a Nation” as the “Best Political Story” of 2002. Producer Michele Zaccheo competed against many other CNN contributors worldwide to win the prize, which was awarded in Atlanta, Georgia.

“This award is a great recognition for us. It is not just an award for the quality TV that the UN can produce, if adequately supported. It is also an important nod to all the people who make the UN work to achieve its aims – often against terrific odds – in places like East Timor,” said Mr. Zaccheo, a producer of the award-winning “United Nations in Action” series. The series consists of short news-style television reports on current affairs that are produced weekly in five official United Nations languages, and are intended for thematic programming slots.

The theme for this year’s Conference was “Perspectives: The Challenges of Reporting in a Changing Environment.” Delegates representing more than 55 countries attended the 2003 meeting to exchange ideas, methods and journalistic techniques.

The UN TV Features Section has participated in many contests worldwide, and has been a successful nominee at many of them. Most recently, “United Nations in Action” received a Best Science and Technology Award at the twelfth Annual CNN World Report Conference for Mongolia and the E-world, an original report on the growth of information technology in that Central Asian country.