Arab Journalism Award opens submissions for 10th edition

Dubai Press Club, the General Secretariat of the Arab Journalism Award, announced it has opened submissions for the tenth edition and invites journalists from across the Arab world to send in their entries before the deadline of 29 January, 2011.

A new Board of Directors set up in July 2010 and led by Khalfan Al Roumi, former Minister for Ministry of Information and Culture in the UAE, will oversee the awards over the next three years.

For the first time in the history of the awards that celebrate creative excellence in journalism, online publications are allowed to participate in all categories for the 10th edition.

In a move to encourage in-depth, yet simplified treatment of specialised subjects in all areas, the categories of Journalism for Children, Health Journalism, Environmental Journalism and IT Journalism have been included under a new umbrella category titled ‘Specialised Journalism’. This new category for journalists below the age of 30 years has been included with a view to recognise the up-and-coming young talent in the region’s media and encourage more youngsters to take up journalism as a profession.

In another first for the 10th edition of the awards, media organisations are allowed to nominate the work of their staff members. Further, journalists are also permitted to nominate themselves directly.

Maryam Bin Fahad, Executive Director, Dubai Press Club, said: “The Arab Journalism Award has increased its focus on the youth through the introduction of a new category – Specialised Journalism. In addition, we have incorporated a revised structure that encompasses a much wider range of journalistic work. With organisations welcome to nominate their staff members, the modus operandi of the awards programme has become far more inclusive.

“All information related to the awards, including the entry forms, is available on our website. We have also chalked out an extensive roadshow in a number of Arab countries over the next few weeks to encourage participation and introduce the new structure.”

In a departure from previous editions, the 10th Arab Journalism Award will allow journalists to submit his/her work in one category alone with three samples of work each.

The categories of Photo Journalism, Outstanding Cartoon Works, Young Talent Journalism and the Best Newspaper Column’ categories will, however, permit the submission of five entries from each contesting participant. The Best Newspaper Column prize will be judged by the AJA Board of Directors directly.

The judging committee, comprising five to six panelists for each category, is in the process of being finalised. The panels will include 60 distinguished media professionals who will evaluate and shortlist the winners. The judges are selected anew for each edition and in line with the General Secretariat’s transparency code, the names will remain confidential until the announcement of the awards.

The last edition of the Arab Journalism Award witnessed a major amendment of categories for the first time since the awards’ inception in 1999 under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

For the total cash prize of US$220,000, the Arab Journalism Award 2010 received more than 3,500 submissions from 19 Arab countries in all 12 categories. It also received submissions from Arabic publications in six foreign countries. Registering an increase of 13% from the eighth edition, the submissions represented an increase of 339% from the first edition of the award in 2000.

The Young Talents Journalism category received the highest number of submissions last year, followed by the Specialised Journalism and the Investigative Reporting category. An award for Media Personality of the Year was also given out for the first time during the 2010 edition.

Details on the categories as well as the terms and conditions for Arab Journalism Award 2011 are available on the AJA website.