Excellence in Audio Storytelling, Short-Form
Ailsa Chang, Jonaki Mehta, Mallory Yu, Patrick Jarenwattananon; Other contributors: Emily Feng; Hugo, Yu-Jung Peng, “In the battle over identity, a centuries-old issue looms in Taiwan: hunting,” NPR
ABOUT THE WORK: As Taiwan’s presidential election loomed at the start of 2024, the world watched closely. The outcome would have global political and economic implications because the ongoing tensions between China and the United States were at the center of the political contest. Voters had to choose between a candidate pushing for stronger ties with China, or one who sought to strengthen the island’s democracy and relations with the West.
At the heart of this election were two essential questions that Taiwanese voters have struggled to answer for generations: What does it mean to be Taiwanese? And who does Taiwan belong to?
NPR’s All Things Considered Taiwan team, which was made up of an all Asian-American staff, set out to hear how people on the island from a range of perspectives think about those questions. Rarely do we hear answers from the people who were on the island first, long before Chinese, Dutch and Japanese colonizers—the indigenous people of Taiwan. For this news feature, we focused on the Truku tribe in Hualien County. Today, indigenous people form about two percent of the island’s population. They have faced centuries of abuse, suppression and exploitation at the hands of colonizing powers. And yet, they have left an indelible mark on the island’s identity and culture, which we wanted to explore.
Ailsa Chang is an award-winning journalist who hosts All Things Considered at NPR. Chang started out as a radio reporter in 2009, and has since earned a string of national awards for her work. In 2012, she was honored with the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for her investigation into the New York City Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" policy and allegations of unlawful marijuana arrests by officers. The series also earned honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists. She was also the recipient of the Daniel Schorr Journalism Award, a National Headliner Award, and an honor from Investigative Reporters and Editors for her investigation on how Detroit's broken public defender system leaves lawyers with insufficient resources to effectively represent their clients. In 2011, the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association named Chang as the winner of the Art Athens Award for General Excellence in Individual Reporting for radio. In 2015, she won a National Journalism Award from the Asian American Journalists Association for her coverage of Capitol Hill. Prior to coming to NPR, Chang was an investigative reporter at NPR Member station WNYC from 2009 to 2012 in New York City, focusing on criminal justice and legal affairs. She was a Kroc fellow at NPR from 2008 to 2009, as well as a reporter and producer for NPR Member station KQED in San Francisco. The former lawyer served as a law clerk to Judge John T. Noonan Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.
Jonaki Mehta is a producer and reporter for NPR. For nearly five years, she has been a producer for the daily news program, All Things Considered, where she has produced stories from Taiwan, Ukraine, and all over the United States. In Taiwan, she led production on a series of stories about Taiwanese identity on an island that has long been covered as a geopolitical pawn between the U.S. and China, working to deepen audiences' understanding of a place with a distinct history, culture and cuisine all its own. In the US, she has covered elections, disasters, and breaking news stories including historic fires in Los Angeles and Maui, school shootings in Uvalde, TX and Monterey Park, CA. Based in Los Angeles, she has produced a series of arts and culture stories in the region, including the annual "First Time Grammy Nominees" series, which she helped create for ATC. She has also spent time as an education reporter for NPR, focusing on how K-12 education has been reshaped by the Trump administration and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mallory Yu is a producer and editor for NPR's All Things Considered, where they have frequently explored the intersection of race, identity and culture. Aside from coverage of daily news, they have had brought their specific hyperfixations to the show's audience, from comic books to kpop and everything in between.
Patrick Jarenwattananon is an editor for NPR's All Things Considered.
Honorable Mention: Reena Joy F. Flores and Rebecca Tan, “A voyage into the world’s most contested waterway,” The Washington Post
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