United States Agency for Global Media

Alhurra’s ‘Street Pulse’ wins Bronze Award at New York Festivals

April 15, 2015

Las Vegas, NV — The winners of the New York Festivals’ International TV and Film awards were announced last night in Las Vegas and Alhurra Television’s critically acclaimed series Street Pulse took home the Bronze Prize for the Best Community Portrait Documentary. The investigative magazine program won for an episode that delved into the lives of Egyptians who live in cemeteries to make ends meet.

“We are extremely proud of Street Pulse and this achievement. Street Pulse sheds light on the under-reported issues and topics in Egyptian society,” stated Middle East Broadcasting Networks’ (MBN) President Brian Conniff. MBN manages and oversees Alhurra TV. “This award recognizes the talented and professional members of the Street Pulse team that put together this excellent program every week.”

Street Pulse cameras went into the cemeteries in and around Cairo and spoke with the people who live there because they cannot afford any other shelter. The crew met with families that had lived in the cemeteries for generations and talked to them about the dangers they faced, as well as the community that they had formed looking out for each other. The Street Pulse crew also spent a night in one of the cemeteries, giving viewers a firsthand look at the challenges facing the dwellers that live there.

Street Pulse previously won the CINE Award’s Special Jury Prize for Investigative Reporting and has been nominated by the Association of International Broadcasting for excellence in reporting.

Alhurra Television was also nominated by the New York Festivals in three other categories. A report on religious tolerance was nominated for the Best Human Interest Feature; Alhurra’s 10^th anniversary campaign was nominated for the Best Network ID; and a promo for the Boxing Girls of Kabul was nominated for Best Documentary Program Promotion.

Alhurra TV is operated by the non-profit corporation The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency.  The BBG serves oversight and as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.