After producing an exclusive AP map documenting Russian disruptions around Europe earlier this year, Emma Burrows didn’t stop there.
She has continued to report on Russian sabotage, including in interviews with European intelligence officials, and continued to collect examples. When a UK court began holding a trial into one such incident, an arson attack, she jumped on it.
She spent day after day at the Old Bailey poring over 200 pages of court documents that reporters could not photograph or take out of court. She also recorded text notes of the witness statements in court to reflect the ‘collateral damage’ aspect of the arson.
She combined this evidence with interviews with 19 European officials over recent months, including prime ministers, defense ministers and intelligence officials. That produced a both deeply detailed and wide-ranging story showing the extent to which Russia is going to cause damage to adversaries well beyond Ukraine. Her notes were used to produce special illustration showing the text messages, and she produced a video explainer of the significance of the discoveries.
The judges noted that Emma has built a network of intelligence sources from scratch since starting her job, and that her perseverance has paid off multiple times in story after story on Russia sabotage
For a notable news break based on remarkable sourcing skills, Emma Burrows wins this week’s 2nd Best of the Week.
Related articles
