Sri Lankan photojournalist Gemunu Amarasinghe wins prestigious AAJA award

Sri Lankan photojournalist Gemunu Amarasinghe has been honoured with the 2026 Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) Journalism Excellence Award for Excellence in International Reporting. Amarasinghe received the award as part of a multimedia reporting team recognised for its project, “Battling a dictatorship, building a democracy: In the jungles of eastern Myanmar, insurgents fight the junta and dream of a new state.” The project documented how communities in Myanmar’s Kayah State are attempting to build democratic institutions while living under the constant threat of conflict. Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Amarasinghe is a Washington, D.C.-based multimedia photojournalist who has covered conflict, human rights and politics across Asia, East Africa and the United States. He most recently worked with Radio Free Asia and previously spent many years with The Associated Press. According to the AAJA, Amarasinghe’s work has also earned several other international honours, including the National Edward R. Murrow Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, the RFK Book and Journalism Award, and National Headliner Awards. The recognition marks another major international achievement for the Sri Lankan-born visual journalist, whose career has taken him from Colombo newsrooms to covering some of the world’s most significant conflicts and humanitarian crises. (Newswire)