Excellence in International Reporting
Gemunu Amarasinghe, Soe San Aung, Boer Deng, Charlie Dharapak, H. Leo Kim, Jim Snyder, “Battling a dictatorship, building a democracy: In the jungles of eastern Myanmar, insurgents fight the junta and dream of a new state.”
Radio Free Asia
ABOUT THE WORK: Radio Free Asia’s multimedia project on the civil war in Myanmar’s Kayah (Karenni) State shifts the global narrative of the conflict from a story of chaotic insurgency to one of deliberate, democratic state-building. By documenting the creation of institutions—police, healthcare, and administration—amidst active warfare, the reporting humanizes the abstract concept of "resistance." The photography of Gemunu Amarasinghe and Jim Snyder’s words moves beyond battlefield statistics to show the profound personal sacrifices of students, doctors, and farmers constructing a federal democracy from scratch. This work serves as a historical record, validating the resilience of a community often overlooked by the international press.
Gemunu Amarasinghe is a Washington, DC-based multimedia photojournalist. He has covered conflict, human rights, and politics in Asia, East Africa, and the United States, most recently with Radio Free Asia and previously with The Associated Press. His reporting and visuals have won numerous awards, including the National Edward R. Murrow Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, the RFK Book and Journalism Award, and National Headliner Awards. Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Gemunu is a self-taught photographer.
Soe San Aung (also known as Saw Phoe Khwar) is an LGBTQ multimedia journalist with more than 11 years of experience reporting on Myanmar’s political upheaval and armed conflict. A former reporter, broadcaster, and podcaster for Radio Free Asia (Burmese Service), he has covered the 2015 and 2020 general elections, the military coup, resistance movements, and human rights abuses under military rule. Working across text, video, and photography, he has contributed to internationally recognized reporting, including a National Edward R. Murrow Award–winning investigation and a Bronze Telly Award–winning video series. He has also exhibited solo photography shows in Yangon, documenting Myanmar’s democratic elections and the political legacy of Aung San Suu Kyi. His work exposes the realities of authoritarian power and centers the voices of communities often silenced or erased.
Boer Deng directed the Investigative unit at Radio Free Asia, where she commissioned, edited and oversaw enterprise and investigative reporting on stories of importance across Asia.
Charlie Dharapak is the Managing Editor for Multimedia at Radio Free Asia. Prior to that, he was a program lead at Meta and spent two decades at the Associated Press, with roles in Washington, D.C., and Asia as a news photographer, regional photo editor, and deputy director of production and presentation.
H. Léo Kim is a visual journalist, creative director and multimedia editor with more than two decades of experience leading visual storytelling across global media, higher education and nonprofit news organizations. Most recently, he served as Creative Director at Radio Free Asia, where he led cross-platform visual journalism across language services and helped shape award-winning digital projects on human rights, democracy, conflict and accountability across Asia. His work has been recognized with multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards for digital storytelling and excellence in diversity, equity and inclusion. For “Battling a dictatorship, building a democracy,” Kim contributed visual editing and video editing, helping translate complex field reporting from eastern Myanmar into a clear, cohesive and accessible multimedia narrative. His broader work focuses on using photography, video, design and digital presentation to make high-stakes journalism more visible, understandable and resonant.
Jim Snyder was an investigative editor at Radio Free Asia. In that role, Jim helped develop projects on transnational repression, labor exploitation and forced assimilation before budget cuts forced the outlet to temporary close last year. He previously covered energy and environmental policy for Bloomberg News and was a reporter and editor at The Hill newspaper. He now works as a freelance journalist from his home in Washington.
Honorable Mention: Alex Ip, Rhysea Agrawal, “A Tale of Three Sudans” (1/2/3), The Xylom
Honorable Mention: Wufei Yu, “Inside the Indonesian boomtowns powering the world’s electric vehicles,” Grist
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