The National staff win multimedia awards

Multimedia journalists at The National won two National Press Photographers Association photojournalism awards.

Multimedia producer Paul Driscoll’s video on shark finning in the Arabian Gulf won third place in the vedeo category of The National Press Photographers Association. Paul Driscoll/The National

Journalists at The National have won two international awards for the quality of the videos on the paper’s website.

The results of a new monthly media contest by the National Press Photographers Association were announced on Wednesday.

The National won first and third places in the video category.

Deepthi Unnikrishnan, Razan Alzayani and Paul Driscoll's three-part video on financial debt problems suffered by Indian expatriates in the UAE, The Debt Cycle, won first place.

Driscoll's video on the fight to curb shark finning in the Arabian Gulf was third.

“Of the four awards I’ve received while working at The National, the one I’m most pleased about is this shark-conservation story,” said Driscoll.

“This is because this is real journalism and an important issue in this region, especially considering that the UAE is one of the top exporters of shark fins to South East Asia.

“Regulation is lacking and so more awareness about the dwindling numbers and unsustainable fishing methods is a good thing.”

The runner-up was photojournalist Jay Dunn for his video on a day in the life of an artist.

The contest is open to photojournalists who make multimedia content and are members of the association.

Based in the United States, the association was founded in 1946 and has more than 6,500 members.

Journalists at The National have won six multimedia awards from the association so far. They have twice won first place, taken second place twice and secured third place once in the multimedia contest category. They also took third place in the multimedia project category.

The categories are audio slideshow, a series of photos accompanied by music or natural sounds; video made expressly for the web; and multimedia project, which can include several videos, audio slideshows or both, as well as Flash interactive projects.

Winners are chosen based on votes from the association’s members.

The National's Sound and Vision section is available at www.thenational.ae/multimedia.