International Emmy Winners Unveiled for News & Current Affairs

The 2019 International Emmys for current affairs and news have been presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The International Emmy for current affairs was presented to Deceptive Diplomacy—Cover-Up by the UN (Sveriges Television [SVT]/Mission Investigate [UG], Sweden), which covered a leak from the UN headquarters that revealed that the official version of the murder of UN experts Zaida Catalán and Michael Sharp in the Congo was false. The story, including secret agents, mass graves and deceptive diplomacy, became global news, shaking the entire United Nations to its core.

Data, Democracy and Dirty Tricks: The Cambridge Analytica Scandal from ITN and Channel 4 News in the U.K. took the win in the news category. The docuseries is an investigation into the controversial British data company Cambridge Analytica, which sparked the biggest international scandal of the year, prompting inquiries across the world and wiping billions of dollars off the value of Facebook.

While presenting the Emmys, Bruce Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, said: “The first line of defense of freedom of the press is the press—the journalists who cover stories, separate fact from fiction, and broadcast the truth. We look forward to celebrating their work and their courage.”