TBIJ: Drone investigation shortlisted for Foreign Press Association Award

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The Bureau’s investigation into the CIA’s use of unmanned drones in Pakistan has been nominated for a Foreign Press Association Media Award in the Web Innovation category. The investigation, which began publishing in July of this year and regularly reports fresh findings, has found a minimum of 392 reported civilians killed in drone attacks. Some 175 are reported to have been children. The CIA maintains that its drones have killed no civilians since May 2010. The Foreign Press Association, founded in 1888, is one of the oldest societies for foreign correspondents in the world. Chris Woods, chief reporter on the Covert War investigation, said: ’With the War on Terror shifting ever further into covert territory, the need for scrutiny has never been greater. The CIA continues to deny that it is killing civilians in its Pakistan drone strikes, despite our extensive evidence to the contrary. The Agency has even tried to smear us for our diligent journalism. So it’s particularly flattering to be nominated for a prestigious FPA Award by our peers.’ The Bureau’s editor, Iain Overton, said: ‘Getting nominated for this award is a great achievement for the Bureau. For an organisation launched just 18 months ago, we are placed in a line-up of nominees that are exclusively big media hitters. This is testimony to the high quality of the journalism of the team and to Chris Woods’s commendable work.’ Sky News has also been nominated for its Sky News for iPad app, as has the Guardian for its liveblog on the Egyptian protests earlier this year. Winners of this year’s awards will be announced on November 22. For the full Covert War investigation, including reports, analysis, data and visualisations, click here. Updates are regularly published on our Facebook page and our Twitter account, using the #CovertWar hashtag. Copyright 2011 by The Bureau for Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). All worldwide rights reserved.