The 37th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards was held yesterday at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City, an event that was attended by more than 1,000 television and news media industry executives, news and documentary producers and journalists.
Including Penang-born Al Jazeera senior producer Poh Si Teng.
The US-based journalist received an Emmy award nomination for “Flirting With the Islamic State” in the “Outstanding Interview” category. “Flirting With the Islamic State” is a documentary that she had co-produced with Ben Laffin from the New York Times where she was previously a video journalist cum producer.
The documentary depicts conversations between a 23-year-old Sunday school teacher in rural Washington State and a British man with ties to radical Islam. The video provides clues on how ISIS recruits new members around the world.
Although “Flirting With the Islamic State” lost the Emmy to “The Cosby Accusers Speak“, Poh still took to her personal Facebook profile to share her joy and gratitude over the nomination.
“I’m from Penang, Malaysia, and when I started out in journalism the thought of doing this form of reporting seemed so out of reach. I thank my former colleagues Rukmini Callimachi and Ben Laffin, and especially my mentors/senior producers, Justine Simons, Bruce Headlam, David Rummel and Mark Scheffler. This nomination is a result of all your guidance and the opportunities you’ve given me in the past decade,” she wrote.
Poh added, “Thank you so much. I promise to make more documentaries and hope to do for others what you have done for me.”
The awards, which were presented in 46 categories by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), celebrates the great work of the national news media organisations.
“The National Academy takes great pride in honouring the men and women that bring us the news of the day while providing us with the background analysis that we need to be well-informed citizens of the world,” NATAS chairman Chuck Dages said in a statement.
Sources: Poh Si Teng, New York Times, Emmys / Featured image: New York Times.
