Amani Khan a reporter with Granada Reports and ITV News won the University of Salford Outstanding Young Journalist award at the 2018 Asian Media Awards.
The Media Awards ceremony took place at the Manchester Hilton Deansgate (Thursday October 25) attracting journalists, broadcasters and media professionals from across the country.
The evening also saw BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty, East is East and Ackley Bridge creator Ayub Khan Din and Sky News Political Editor Faisal Islam honoured.
The Outstanding Young Journalist award was presented by Paul Broster, Director of Journalism, Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford.
Amani has been with Granada Reports for two years and during that time has been instrumental in producing a number of high-profile reports.
Amani said, ““Winning the Outstanding Young Journalist award at the Asian Media Awards is particularly meaningful to me because one of the reasons I pursued a career in Journalism was to highlight issues from the Asian community which are often brushed under the carpet and to be recognised for that is incredible.”
Within just months of starting the role she set out to make a special series about Forced Marriage.
Her exclusive report was transmitted which accurately represented the truth behind forced marriages and looked at statistics that showed how many young girls turning 16 are taken away after their GCSE’s during the summer holidays to marry against their will.
As well as her forced marriage piece she has worked on exclusive reports on the first Muslim panto in Manchester, a story about how Muslim communities in Blackburn were coming together to lower levels of loneliness at Christmas as well as the Northern Rail chaos, the moorland fires in June and the anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing.
Paul Broster who is a member of the AMA judging panel said, “The standard of journalism from all the nominees was so high that selecting a winner was very difficult.
“They shone lights on subjects including forced marriage, hijabs in sport and the Manchester bomb with real energy and professionalism.
“Amani’s eye for a story and desire to bring in exclusive material just gave her the edge and she was a very deserving winner. What this category has also shown is that the future of journalism is bright.”
Winners and recipients of AMA special awards were announced at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Thursday 25 October.
Previous recipients of an Asian Media Award include Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Waris Hussein, Art Malik, Mehdi Hasan, Nina Wadia and Anita Rani.
The University of Salford are premier sponsors and partners to the event include ITV, MediaCom, M.E.N, Press Association Training, Primesight & The Palace Theatre & Opera House.
The official Charity Partner for 2018 is CLIC Sargent.
The event is also supported by Manchester Metropolitan University, Routes Into Languages, Namey, AMT Lawyers, USI Money, Hilton Manchester Deansgate, Supreme Dream Events, Payal Events & Cleartwo.
