RFA project on war-torn Myanmar community wins at AAJA Awards

WASHINGTON—Former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists Jim Snyder and Gemunu Amarasinghe were named winners at this year’s Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) Journalism Excellence Awards. The duo’s project, “Battling a dictatorship, building a democracy: In the jungles of eastern Myanmar, insurgents fight the junta and dream of a new state,” which was supported by RFA’s Burmese Service, Investigative, and Multimedia teams, documents the creation of democratic institutions in an active warzone in Myanmar. It won the award for Excellence in International Reporting.

“RFA’s journalists braved extraordinary conditions to bring us this insightful and powerful study of community resilience in war-torn Myanmar,” said RFA President and CEO Bay Fang. “Their multi-part project goes beyond battlefield statistics to show the personal impact of armed conflict—a story that would otherwise not see the light of day.

“As RFA rebuilds, this impactful series speaks to the uncensored, accurate journalism that our audiences expect from us.”

In their winning report, the duo trekked through the perilous Myanmar jungle to reach the conflict-ridden Kayah state, where they spent three weeks interviewing dozens of residents including healthcare workers and insurgent fighters, all working to build a more stable community. The four-part series examines the locals’ efforts to install an enduring democratic system in Myanmar, build a reliable police force in Kayah state, and profiles the doctors and nurses treating rebel fighters in a secret hospital in the jungle.

RFA Burmese, along with other language services, resumed content production in late 2025. Since returning, their Facebook video views hit 12.7M in April as interactions grew 15%. The Service also launched a new podcast, “Challenges of Myanmar Youth,” which has attracted millions of listeners. In March, RFA Burmese published an exclusive video report about a town in a high-conflict area of Sagaing that lacked sufficient safe houses, leaving many locals vulnerable. Soon after RFA’s report, the National Unity Government donated the residents additional shelters, with local residents crediting RFA for this development.