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Task Force Members Start Collecting Impressive Hardware

November 7th, 2012

Two amazing stories have emerged out of the UK over the past few days for members of the Task Force. Our members in the United Kingdom are collecting meaningful and important recognition for their work on global tax dodging issues.

Task Force Assistant Communications Director Nick Mathiason was nominated by the Press Gazette for the Business Journalist of the Year British Journalism Award, for his work as part of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The Press Gazette editor, Dominic Ponsford, said:

“The genesis for these awards was the hacking scandal and the Leveson inquiry. If ever an industry needs some positive PR the journalism industry does.

“We knew there was far more important public interest journalism going on in the UK than our much-maligned colleagues get credit for and, like many others, Press Gazette has noted that Lord Justice Leveson saw mainly a one-sided and negative picture during his inquiry.

“The finalists for the first British Journalism awards prove comprehensively that there are two sides to this story.”

We not only congratulate Nick for becoming a finalist, but also will be rooting for him to come out on top and receive the award on December 4th. You can read more about the awards here.

John Christensen and Nicholas Shaxson of Tax Justice Network, were listed as two of the fifty most influential individuals and organizations in the world on global tax issues by International Tax Review. John was included for his work on country-by-country reporting, tax havens, tax avoidance, and automatic exchange of tax information. Nicholas earned his spot on the list through his landmark book Treasure Islands, as well as his reporting on U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s involvement with tax havens in Vanity Fair

Their company on the list is very impressive, ranging from French President Francois Hollande to Indian Minister of Finance Palaniappan Chibambaram to Senator Carl Levin, as well as more abstract choices like the Occupy Wall Street and Uncut movements and all of Twitter.

In this day and age, its easy to get cynical and nihilistic about the possibility of positive change on complex issues opposed by powerful interests, but John, Nick, and Nicholas were not honored this week for symbolic advances or insignificant accomplishments. They, and others on the Task Force, are making a real impact on the world, and deserve every ounce of recognition they receive. We congratulate them!

Written by EJ Fagan

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