Online news outlet Bangla Tribune’s senior reporter Udisa Islam won the Best Reporter prize at Prothom Alo Best Anti-Drugs Report 2015 for her outstanding coverage of the issue.
A total six reporters were awarded the honour at the event in two categories: newspaper and television. Udisa won in the Newspaper category, while Prothom Alo reporter Kazi Anis was first runners-up and AM Jewel, reporter at Barisaler Kotha, a local newspaper in Barisal, was second runners-up.
In the Television category, Maasranga reporter Obaidul Kabir won, while Boishakhi TV’s senior reporter Dipu Sarwar was first runners-up and Independent Television’s Meherpur Correspondent Rajibul Haque was second runners-up.
Udisa said it was undoubtedly a happy event in her life, but it also increased her responsibilities as a reporter. “If at least one person can get out of the vicious cycle of drug addiction because of my work, I will feel truly rewarded.”
State Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan attended the award giving ceremony as chief guest and was accompanied by Dhaka Medical College’s Head of Burn Unit and Prothom Alo Trust’s Treasurer Samanta Lal, journalist Muhammad Jahangir and National Institute of Mental Health Professor Mohit Kamal, among others.
