Category: World Service
Date: 06.05.2005
Printable version
91Èȱ¬ World Service has been chosen by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute to receive a Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal, "for its extraordinary history as a universal voice of freedom" and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
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The award is presented each year to men and women whose achievements show a commitment to the principles President Roosevelt identified in 1941 as essential prerequisites of democracy: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
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91Èȱ¬ World Service Director Nigel Chapman will accept the award at a lunchtime ceremony before a distinguished audience on Monday 9 May at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms in London.
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Former recipients of the award, which prior to 1982 was only given to American citizens, include US Presidents John F Kennedy, Harry S Truman and Stevenson; Czech President Vaclav Havel and the Dalai Lama.
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The award's trustees say of the World Service: "In the darkest days of World War II the voice of the 91Èȱ¬ World Service was the expression of hope not only for the valiant people of Great Britain but also for all of those who lived under the tyrannical yoke of Nazi oppression."
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"The courage of your reporters, the accuracy of their reporting, the brilliance of their writing, but most of all the integrity of the 91Èȱ¬ operations have established the highest standards for media everywhere."
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Nigel Chapman said: "It is a great honour to receive this award from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute on behalf of 91Èȱ¬ World Service.
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"This is a tribute to the expertise, commitment and courage of our reporters and programme makers in the field over so many years.
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"They have been the eyes and ears for our audiences and it is their skill and professionalism, often in very dangerous situations, that underpins everything that 91Èȱ¬ World Service has achieved over the past 70 years.
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"It is their unswerving commitment to the values of accuracy, integrity, independence, impartiality, openness and fairness that has served audiences around the world so well.
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"I believe we owe them a huge debt of gratitude."
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The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
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The institute commemorates the significant events of the Roosevelt era and helps maintain the legacy of two remarkable individuals by sponsoring conferences, symposia, and lectures on contemporary issues.
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Its programmes help sustain the Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY as a vital centre for the study and teaching of the Roosevelt era through teacher/student workshops, the Pare Lorentz Film Center, and a grants-in-aid programme.
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The institute created the highly successful New Deal Network (http://newdeal.feri.org) and, in conjunction with Marist College, helps sustain the award-winning FDR Library web site (www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu).
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Each year, working with the World Committee on Disability, the institute presents the Franklin D Roosevelt International Disability Award at the United Nations to a country that has made noteworthy progress towards the full and equal participation of people with disabilities.
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In cooperation with the Government of Zeeland, the Dutch province from which the Roosevelts emigrated to the New World in the 17th century, the institute encourages the study of American history abroad through its support of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, the Netherlands.
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The institute also supports the Franklin D Roosevelt Foundation for United States Studies at Moscow State University, and the Roosevelt International Centre at Yonsei University, in Seoul, South Korea, as international forums for research, discussion, and the examination of FDR's Four Freedoms in relation to the contemporary world.
