Judges 2021

Andy Clarke

Bureau Chief, CBS News London

“As the only charity for freelancers, the Trust is a beacon of hope for all those who cover the news without the backing of a large organisation.”

Andy first became involved with the Rory Peck Trust in 2006 when staff cameraman Paul Douglas and freelance soundman James Brolan were tragically killed by a terrorist bomb in Baghdad. Since the untimely death of his colleagues, Andy and CBS News London have organised a number of charitable events to raise money for the Trust.

He became London Bureau Chief in 2011 after serving five years as the Deputy Bureau Chief. Before that, Andy spent two decades covering stories around the globe as a producer for CBS News, more often than not in hostile environments. He was also based in Tokyo and reported from the Far East for five years. Andy is the recipient of two national Emmy Awards and an Overseas Press Club of America Award for his coverage of the Kashmir Earthquake in 2005.

Tira Shubart (Chair)

Freelance Producer and Writer

“Rory’s bravery and ability to be in the right places was more than matched by his charm and generosity of spirit.”

Tira has been on the Board of The Rory Peck Trust since 2000. She first met Rory Peck in Bucharest during the Romanian Revolution in 1989.

Tira has worked as a news and documentary producer for British, Canadian and American television networks, and for Frontline News Television, covering stories in over 50 countries. Recently, Tira has worked extensively in East Africa. She co-authored the book Lifting the Veil: Life in Revolutionary Iran and has written for the UK and US press. Tira also wrote and produced a BBC comedy series about journalists, Taking the Flak.

“Within a few hours of first meeting Rory, we were caught in several street battles, had commandeered the car of a fleeing Securitate officer after we fed our video to London, and then watched the National Library burn to the ground. By the end of that memorable week, Rory seemed to know everyone in Bucharest and all doors opened for him. His career ended in Moscow in 1993, leaving a large Rory-shaped hole in our lives.”

Claus Pfeifer

Claus is responsible for the European Product Management of Sony’s Cinematography solutions as well Sony’s range of Professional Acquisition products including Broadcast Camcorders and Professional Audio.

David Dieudonné

David has been Google News Lab Lead in France since March 2016, also covering Italy and Spain since November 2019. Before joining Google, he worked for Agence France-Presse since 2001, occupying various postings including as a reporter engaged in international temporary crises assignments, such as piracy in the Indian Ocean, the 2010 earthquake in Haïti and the war in Afghanistan.

Sophie Huet

Sophie is Deputy Global News Director at Agence France-Presse, the multimedia news agency covering news worldwide 24/7 in six languages.  In charge of innovation, she is leading collaborative efforts to create new products for AFP clients and new tools for the newsroom and connecting the agency with the startup, design and innovation ecosystem. A journalist for more than 30 years, Sophie has worked for AFP since 1991 in various assignments, such as Reporter in the Washington and London bureaus, News Editor in Marseille, Deputy News Editor for France, Head of the French general news department and Head of the Graphics and Innovation department.

Tom Giles

Tom has been Controller of Current Affairs and a factual commissioner for ITV since 2015, where he’s responsible for strands like Tonight and Exposure, live political programmes, as well as single documentaries and factual series. Previously at the BBC for more than 20 years, he was Editor and Deputy Editor of Panorama, an Assistant Editor at Newsnight and an award-winning producer-director for BBC news, current affairs, docs, science and history – including films in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.

Natalie Triebwasser

Natalie is Head of Production at Quicksilver Media, an independent production company specialising in documentaries and current affairs. She has extensive experience of international filming, including hostile environment shoots in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Pakistan and Syria, as well as many high-risk undercover shoots in countries such as Burma, China and Zimbabwe. Recent productions include a seven part crime documentary series for Netflix, ‘The Anti-Vax Conspiracy’ for Channel 4, Arte and All3, Emmy-nominated documentary ‘Isis and the Battle for Iraq’ for Channel 4/PBS, and BAFTA and Emmy-winning ‘Syria Across The Lines’ for Channel 4/PBS.

Melissa Chan

Melissa is an Emmy-nominated journalist based between Los Angeles and Berlin. She has reported everywhere from Cuba to Canada, Mongolia to Moscow, North and South Korea, and is currently focused on transnational issues. She has written for The New York Times — where she was nominated for a Loeb Award — and for The Atlantic, Time, Foreign Policy, and more. As a television journalist, she takes viewers on investigative journeys through long-format news documentaries, including with the award-winning Fault Lines series on Al Jazeera. She also reports from Europe as a correspondent for VICE News Tonight and presents for Germany’s DW News.

Anne Koch

Anne is the Program Director at the Global Investigative Journalism Network, the world’s largest network of investigative journalists. Previously, she worked as a broadcast journalist and executive for more than 20 years at the BBC, which included service as Deputy Director of the English World Service, Executive Editor of the flagship radio news and current affairs programmes and Editor of The World Tonight. She worked on Radio 4’s File on Four and produced or edited over a hundred radio documentaries. After leaving, she became a director at Transparency International,  serving as director of Europe and Central Asia, overseeing nearly 50 independent chapters. She is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Liberty Investigates and a Trustee at Time and Talents. 

Elizabeth Palmer

Elizabeth is CBS News’ senior foreign correspondent, based in London. She joined the network in 2000 and reports for all of CBS News’ broadcasts and platforms, spending much of the last two decades covering Russia and the Middle East. Elizabeth was one of the first U.S. correspondents to helicopter into Afghanistan after 9/11 and has made many reporting trips into Iraq, Libya and Syria. Her reporting on Syria’s civil war earned her Columbia University’s Dupont Award. She regularly reports on and in Iran and is one of the few Western journalists to have visited Iran’s nuclear installations.

Sarah Waldron

Sarah is International Executive for BBC Current Affairs, overseeing strands This World and Our World.  After years of directing films, in 2011 she became the Series Producer for This World, overseeing more than 50 films and winning RTS,  BAFTA and Amnesty awards. In 2018, she became the Executive Producer. Recent credits include 54 Days: China and the Pandemic/ America and the Pandemic, Death in Bollywood, Italy’s Frontline: A Doctor’s Diary, Aung San Suu Kyi: The Fall of an Icon, The Missing Princess and Return of the Taliban.

Lina Attalah

Nevine Mabro 

Dima Khatib

Mark Phillips

Gill Penlington