The National's James Reinl wins UN award

NEW YORK // James Reinl, the UN correspondent for The National, has won a silver prize for his coverage of the New York-based organisation and its humanitarian work around the world. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, is expected to present the award in New York tonight. The Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize, sponsored by the Alexander Bodini Foundation, is awarded to print media. Judges look for entries with "impact, insight and originality" and take into account the "courage and assiduity of the journalist".

Reinl, 34, has covered the United Nations since The National was launched in April 2008. He has covered many of Mr Ban's official visits and has reported on the world body's operations in Egypt, Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "Reporting from UN headquarters and around the world has been a privilege, terrifically exciting and a real eye-opening experience, which has given me the opportunity to work on some extremely important stories for readers back in the Emirates," Reinl said.

Before moving to New York, Reinl spent four years working in Dubai. He also worked as a court reporter in his native London. Reinl shares his award with Betsy Pisik of The Washington Times. The gold prize was awarded jointly to Louis Charbonneau of Reuters and Stephen Stecklow and Andrew Higgins of The Wall Street Journal. sdevi@thenational.ae