OPC Award Winners Share Their Stories: Joe and Laurie Dine Award 

Join the OPC for a discussion with winners of the Joe and Laurie Dine Award, including Angus Berwick, Reuters correspondent for Venezuela, and Brian Ellsworth, senior correspondent for Venezuela. Reuters’ Venezuela Bureau won for their series of articles titled “Maduro’s Venezuela,” which shed light on a system of violence, corruption and “machinery of repression” aided by international partners.

The moderator will be Anya Schiffrin, senior lecturer at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, who served as head judge.

RSVPs are essential. Please register now to receive a Zoom link via email about an hour before the program.

Judges said:

“Against all odds, a team of Reuters reporters reported an indispensable account of the corruption inside Maduro’s government and the physical dangers faced by Venezuelan citizens, many of whom have had to flee the ravaged country. At a time when attention has turned to other pressing geopolitical problems, Reuters stayed with an important story, documenting human rights abuses that are not getting the attention they deserve. Using court documents and government records as well as interviews, the Reuters team helped explain how Maduro has managed to hold on power (partly buying off the police and military and restructuring the chain of command), documented the hunger among Venezuela’s children as well as the breathtaking world of corruption and kickbacks from a Chinese joint venture. While top officials line their pockets, many Venezuelans are famished and trying to escape in rickety boats. Top-notch reporting and photography, as well as clear and accessible writing, rounded out this important investigation.”