Esther Htusan Explained

Esther Htusan
Birth Date:[1]
Birth Place:Hpakant, Kachin State, Myanmar
Nationality:Burmese
Education:University of Myitkyina
Occupation:Journalist
Notable Works:"Seafood from Slaves"

Esther Htusan (pronounced TOO-sahn), is a journalist from Myanmar. She is a former Foreign Correspondent for the Associated Press based in Yangon, Myanmar. In 2016, she was the first person from Myanmar to win the Pulitzer Prize.[2] [3]

In 2017, Htusan was forced to flee from her country after reporting on Aung San Suu Kyi's policies toward Rohingya refugees.[4] Htusan is now a freelance journalist, living in the United States.[5]

Background and education

Esther Htusan was born in 1987 in Phakant, Kachin State, Myanmar to ethnic Kachin parents Hkangda Dut La, Bawmli Hkawn Shawng. She finished her primary and secondary education in Myitkyina, Kachin State.[6]

She studied Mathematics at the University of Myitkyina where she earned her bachelor's degree in Science in 2008. After graduating from the university she moved to the country's biggest city, Yangon in 2009 to study English and political science.

Career

Htusan began her journalism career in 2012, working as a freelance fixer and producer for different international news agencies. she was an editor for Kaung Thant Press, from 2012 to August 2013, before joining the Associated Press in September, 2013.

In 2019, looking back at her decision to become a journalist, Htusan wrote about her choice to become a journalist and her parents fear for her safety.[7]

In 2013, after investigating confiscation of more than 500 acres of farmland by the Navy, a military intelligence officer visited her apartment to interrogate her. When she learned about the visit, she fled to Shan State in the east of Burma for two weeks. Eventually, her fear of imprisonment and prosecution was realized, and Htusan was forced to flee from her home because of her 2017 reporting on Aung San Suu Kyi's policies toward Rohingya refugees and the ongoing "clearance operations" surrounding the Rohingya conflict.[4] [8]

Reporting on slavery in Thailand's fishing fleets

In 2014, Htusan and Margie Mason embarked on a 30-hour journey to investigate enslaved Burmese fishermen in the remote island village of Benjina in eastern Indonesia.[9] [10] Htusan, and other members of the Associated Press team, spent over a year of investigations leading up to publication of what they learned.

In 2015, the Associated Press began publishing a series of stories that Htusan, Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, and Martha Mendoza, had been working on. The series was the product of over a year of investigative reporting, and led to the rescue of over 2000 slaves in the fishing trade. The stories covered enslaved fishermen and the ordeal they lived through; some were locked in a cages, some of the dead were buried without their family's knowledge, and the inhumane conditions they suffered through.[11] [12] [13]

The series of stories began running in March, 2015, as listed below.

The reporting led to coverage in numerous US newspapers as well as international coverage[20] [21] [22] [23] and the U.S. State Department began their own investigation and new legislation was passed to help close loopholes that allowed sales of products produced with slave labor.[24] [25] [26]

Awards

Htusan and the staff of the Associated Press won multiple awards for the coverage of slave-labor in the fishing industry and are listed below.

Notes and References

  1. News: Myanmar (Burma): Burma Celebrates First Pulitzer Prize-Winning Female Journalist . Thai News Service . April 21, 2016.
  2. Web site: The Pulitzer Prizes. 2016 Pulitzer Prizes Journalism. 2020-10-07. pulitzer.org. en.
  3. Web site: 2016-04-19. Burma Celebrates First Pulitzer Prize-Winning Female Journalist. 2020-10-07. The Irrawaddy. en-US.
  4. Web site: 2018-02-12. Threats, arrests, and access denied as Myanmar backtracks on press freedom. 2020-10-07. Committee to Protect Journalists. en-US.
  5. Web site: Esther Htusan The New Humanitarian. 2020-10-07. thenewhumanitarian.org.
  6. News: Running in the direction of danger . . 6 May 2016 . en.
  7. Web site: 2019-12-27. The Price Burma's Journalists Pay. 2020-10-08. Civil Rights Defenders. en-US.
  8. Web site: ESTHER HTUSAN The Seattle Times. 2020-10-08. seattletimes.com. en-US.
  9. Web site: KLN. 2016-05-22. Esther Htusan, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Kachin Journalist. 2020-10-07. Kachinland News. en-US.
  10. Web site: Expat. Indonesia. 2017-11-20. Margie Mason, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist. 2020-10-07. Indonesia Expat. en-US.
  11. Web site: Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves. 2020-10-07. AP Explore: Seafood from slaves. en.
  12. Web site: More than 2,000 enslaved fishermen rescued in 6 months. 2020-10-07. AP Explore: Seafood from slaves. en.
  13. Web site: 2016-04-18. Martha Mendoza, Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, Esther Htusan. 2020-10-07. The Michael Kelly Award. en-US.
  14. Web site: AP Investigation: Are slaves catching the fish you buy?. 2020-10-08. AP NEWS.
  15. Web site: AP investigation prompts emergency rescue of 300 plus slaves. 2020-10-08. AP NEWS.
  16. Web site: US lets in Thai fish caught by slaves despite law. 2020-10-08. AP Explore: Seafood from slaves. en.
  17. Web site: 2016-04-18. Seafood from Slaves. 2020-10-08. Associated Press. en.
  18. Web site: AP Exclusive: AP tracks slave boats to Papua New Guinea. 2020-10-08. AP NEWS.
  19. Web site: AP investigation prompts new round of slave rescues. 2020-10-08. AP Explore: Seafood from slaves. en.
  20. Web site: karafyllis. 2015-03-26. AP: End slavery in Thailand’s fishing fleets. 2020-10-08. New Europe. en-US.
  21. Web site: . Shrimp shed owners deny worker abuse. 2020-10-08. bangkokpost.com.
  22. Web site: AP: Shrimp processed by slaves sold in major U.S. stores. 2020-10-08. wflx.com. en-US.
  23. News: Ferdman. Roberto A.. Don’t eat that shrimp. en-US. Washington Post. 2020-10-08. 0190-8286.
  24. Web site: 2015-07-28. House bill to require disclosure of efforts to eliminate slave labor from supply chains. 2020-10-08. Cooley PubCo. en.
  25. Web site: Slave-Labor Loophole Closed By Senate After 8 Decades. 2020-10-08. fa-mag.com.
  26. Web site: Booth. Barbara. 2016-03-03. The victims of the 21st-century slave trade. 2020-10-08. CNBC. en.
  27. Web site: 01 The Hal Boyle Award Archives. 2020-10-08. OPC. en-US.
  28. Web site: AP announces winners of 2015 Oliver S. Gramling Awards. 2020-10-08. Associated Press. en.
  29. Web site: 2018-11-21. SOJC recognizes outstanding journalistic ethics with 16th annual Ancil Payne Award. 2020-10-08. School of Journalism and Communication. en-US.
  30. Web site: Barlett & Steele Awards. 2020-10-08. Reynolds Center. en-US.
  31. Web site: Past Winners Long Island University. 2020-10-08. liu.edu.
  32. Web site: Previous Winners and Finalists. 2020-10-08. Shorenstein Center. en-US. 2017-07-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20170711141926/https://shorensteincenter.org/goldsmith-awards/investigative-reporting-prize/previous-winners-finalists/. dead.
  33. Web site: Inaugural Anthony Lewis Prize Award Winner Announced. 2020-10-08. World Justice Project. en.
  34. Web site: Selden Ring Previous Winners. 2020-10-08. annenberg.usc.edu. en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Esther Htusan".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.