This Penang-Born Journalist Was Nominated For An Emmy!
Kudos for the brilliant documentary, Poh!
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 23 Sep 2016, 05:46 PM
In the midst of welcoming the return of our paralympians after their victorious feat at the Paralympics, we have another cause for celebration thanks to this outstanding Malaysian's achievement in the journalism industry recently
Poh Si Teng at the 37th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards in New York, US.
Image via Facebook/Poh Si TengRenowned video journalist and producer, Poh Si Teng received an Emmy nomination for her documentary, 'Flirting With The Islamic State' on 22 July
Poh's Facebook post on 21 September, the night of the 37th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards in New York, US
Image via Facebook/ Poh Si TengPoh's documentary, 'Flirting With The Islamic State' was among the nominees for the 'Outstanding Interview' category at the 37th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards in New York, US which held on 21 September.
Poh had co-produced the documentary with New York Times' Ben Laffin and the video was published by New York Times on 27 June 2015 along with an article about it.
Sadly, 'Flirting With The State' lost the Emmy to NBC's 'The Cosby Accusers Speak', which is an exclusive interview with 27 of Bill Cosby's accusers who shared their stories of sexual abuse.
What is 'Flirting With The Islamic State' about?
The 8.07 minute Emmy nominated documentary is about the conversations between a young woman in rural Washington State and an English man who has ties to the terrorist group, Islamic State. The documentary aims to find answers about how the ISIS recruits its members.
23-year-old Alex who is a Sunday school teacher became acquainted with a group of online friends that taught her more about Islamic teachings and being a Muslim. One such conversation with a man named Faisal blend into the lives of the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
The man that Alex was in talks with, Faisal, was twice acquitted of bomb plots in Britain and was previously arrested in Bangladesh for allegedly running a bomb-making factory. The documentary explained how Faisal's communication methods were similar to the recruitment instructions found in the ISIS manual.
Watch the full documentary here:
Poh explained on Facebook, that her interest with ISIS sparked after the brutal beheading of freelance war correspondent, journalist Jim Foley
"Although we never met, we worked for the same organization for years but based in different countries. More than a year after Jim's disappearance, video of his execution appeared. It was devastating.
"Despair led to anger, anger to frustration, and frustration led to more questions. And since then I've been working on the subject of radicalization to understand it for myself," said Poh in a Facebook post on 22 July when she announced her Emmy nomination.
Foley was abducted on 22 November 2012 in Northwestern Syria and was beheaded on 19 August 2014, becoming the first American to be killed by ISIS. The militant group released the video of the beheading and threatened that they would kill another American if President Obama does not end the military operations in Iraq.
The talented filmmaker's career has been illustrious. She has worked on an array of issues globally, including the 2014 Indian national elections, the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat state, and the lives of transgender Malaysian Muslim sex workers to name a few.
Poh has worked with prestigious organisations such as Times of India, the Associated Press, VICE and New York Times. She is currently the senior producer at Al Jazeera English and is based in Brooklyn, New York.