MARK FORBES, Jakarta correspondent


Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Media Award

The Age’s Mark Forbes was named 2007 winner of the annual Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Media Award. The prestigious annual award recognises excellence in journalistic reporting of traumatic events in any media. Forbes won the award for his stories on the 7 March 2007 Garuda Airlines crash at Yogyakarta Airport, which killed 22 people.

September 2007
Coverage of the Garuda plane crash, 7 March 2007

Mark Forbes, Jakarta correspondent of The Age, was named 2007 winner of the annual Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Media Award.

The prestigious annual Award recognises excellence in journalistic reporting of traumatic events in any media. It was awarded on Friday 21 September at the 14th Annual ASTSS Conference being held in Ballarat, Victoria.

Mr Forbes won the award for his stories on the 7 March 2007 Garuda Airlines crash at Yogyakarta Airport, which killed 22 people.

Ms Felicity May, Chair of the Judging Panel and member of the Committee of Management of ASTSS, said "What made Mark Forbes' story so compelling was that Mr Forbes was a participant in the event. He was one of the first on the scene, rescuing survivors, identifying the dead and arranging the medical evacuation of the badly injured. A number of the dead and injured were close personal friends and colleagues."

"He later visited hospitals, voluntarily served as the Department of Foreign Affairs' only on-site representative and, as the sole Australian journalist on the ground, was heavily interviewed and reported around the world," Ms May said.

"Only later was he able to file his own stories on the disaster. And when, a month later, authorities tried to suppress a report on the crash, it was Mark Forbes who obtained a copy and published it."

The Judging Panel considered that Mr Forbes reported with accuracy and sensitivity, while simultaneously upholding the highest standards of journalistic excellence, during a period of intense trauma.