United States
Journalist captured by Taliban among George Polk Award winnersPosted Feb 26 2010
Long Island University announced the 2009 George Polk Award winners including The New York Times author and investigative journalist David Rohde, who was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2008.
Rohde and Afghan journalist Tahir Luddin were abducted in southern Afghanistan en route to interview a Taliban commander. Their captors took them into Pakistan for seven months and 10 days until they escaped, The New York Times reported.
“Journalists are not viewed as a neutral party. They’re viewed as spies and criminals,” Rohde told the International Journalists’ Network.
Rohde will be working with the Dart Centre at Columbia University to create a program to help journalists prevent abduction and assist families after their release.
Rohde received two Pulitzer Prizes in 1996 and 2008 for covering the Srebrenica massacre and Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively.
“Held by the Taliban”, the five-part series of the experience, will be honored at the awards ceremony in April.