The Darfur Crisis

A series of searing reports from BBC journalists Andrew Harding, Ishbel Matheson, Hilary Andersson, Fergal Keane, Nicholas Witchell, Paul Wood, and Bridget Kendal, The Darfur Crisis exposes the tragedy of genocide and racial cleansing in the Darfur region of Sudan. Driven to rebellion by an apparent government-approved attempt by Sudanese Arabs to cleanse the area of black Africans, the blacks of Darfur engage in a struggle for their very survival. Harding and Matheson from the BBC Nairobi bureau broadcasted some of the very first reports of the crisis in Darfur, and Andersson made five extended trips into Darfur from May to September 2004, to report on the plight of black Sudanese Africans. At times, video had to be smuggled out of Sudan by donkey, secret border crossings were necessary, and Darfur rebels were supplied with cameras to document the atrocities they reported. In November, Keane documented the worsening security situation in the region despite harassment from the police. The haunting video images by cameramen Glen Middleton, Richard Atkinson, and Fred Scott lend immediacy to the suffering and misery endured by the people of Darfur. Executive producer Jonathan Baker and producer Jackie Martens highlight the anguish and desperation of the people who are trapped in this crisis, and in doing so, they bring this tragedy to international attention. For outstanding coverage of such a shocking situation that would initiate action among world leaders, a Peabody Award goes to The Darfur Crisis.