We are pleased to announce that this blog, The Global Integrity Commons, has won the Every Human Has Rights Media Award in recognition of journalism in defense of human rights. The award is offered by The Elders and Internews in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the UN Convention on Human Rights.
The winning post, Internet Censorship: A Comparative Study, examines restrictions on free expression on the Internet. Global Integrity’s Director of Operations Jonathan Eyler-Werve authored the post, drawing on the work of Global Integrity’s worldwide network of local reporters and researchers.
“Everything we do is a collaboration with these local partners,” said Eyler-Werve. “We are able to get researchers and journalists all over the world asking the exact same questions in many different places, and the results are fascinating.”
Eyler-Werve is one of thirty journalists worldwide who have won the Every Human Has Rights Media Award, chosen from more than 400 entries. The winners will attend an award ceremony in Paris on December 6th, where Archbishop Desmond Tutu will present the award on behalf of The Elders and Internews.
In the winning entry, Eyler-Werve used data from the Global Integrity Report, a collection of annually updated assessments of national anti-corruption practices. The Report examines issues of transparency, civil society and media freedoms, government accountability and citizen access to government.
“The winning article used the data from only two of the 300 Integrity Indicators,” said Eyler-Werve. “There’s a whole stack of stories like this one buried in the Global Integrity Report that we are only starting to explore. And because it’s all open to the public, anyone can use this collection of reporting to advance their work.”
The Global Integrity Commons blog was launched in January 2008 and has drawn 34,229 readers from 176 countries, including distant locations like Myanmar, Somalia and Iran. The blog features analysis and discussion of corruption and anti-corruption efforts worldwide.
Global Integrity is an international non-profit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends, with headquarters in Washington, DC.
— Nathaniel Heller & Global Integrity