James de Caupenne-Keogh was awarded the Prix du Jeune Reporter (Young Reporter prize) in Lille. He had already been nominated in the same category for the Prix Bayeux-Calvados for war correspondents, in recognition of his coverage of the war in Libya, specifically for his work in Misrata, where he was one of the first to arrive.

“For Wostok Press in April 2011, I joined the i>TELE team to go to Libya. We got separated in Benghazi, so I hopped on a trawler taking arms to combatants in Misrata. I decided to go because at the time there were hardly any journalists there.”

“In Misrata, I felt useful. I was with combatants that had taken sniper fire. I was able to work there, but when I got to Tripoli, there were so many journalists I got discouraged. Then I went to Syrte, but it was the same thing, so I came home. I need to feel useful to do my job.”
“I was published in Le Monde, Le Figaro, Paris Match—I even made it into Causette, the women’s monthly, because in Benghazi I had covered the ‘Bernard Henri-Levy show’ along with his publicity team.”

Michel Puech