Global Arab Network | Supporting Press Freedom - EU launches 2010 edition of Samir Kassir Award

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Supporting Press Freedom - EU launches 2010 edition of Samir Kassir Award

- George Haddad

Friday, 29 January 2010 17:34

Samir_Kassir_Award_for_Freedom_of_the_Press

Journalists from across the Southern Mediterranean and the Gulf are being invited to take part in the fifth edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, organised since 2006 by the EU Delegation in Lebanon in collaboration with the Samir Kassir Foundation.

The award honours the Lebanese journalist and writer Samir Kassir who was assassinated in 2005. A press release said it had grown in popularity since its creation, each year witnessing the participation of more and more candidates.

The award rewards two journalists who have proved to be an example to others by the quality of their work in the two following categories:

* best opinion article
* best investigative reporting article

The winner of each category will receive a prize of €12,500.

The contest is open to all journalists of the written press (daily, weekly, monthly and online press), who are citizens of the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Applicants must submit only one article related to the rule of law or human rights (good governance, fight against corruption, freedom of expression, etc.). The deadline for submissions is 30 March 2010.

The prize-giving ceremony will take place on 2 June 2010 in Beirut.

Last year, the awards went to two women journalists, one from Egypt and the other from Lebanon. Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian journalist, won the prize in the ‘Best Opinion Article’ category for her article: “The Arab World’s Dirty Secret – Racism,” published in the Al Arab daily newspaper in Qatar and in Al Masry Al Youm daily newspaper in Egypt.

Carole Kerbage, a Lebanese journalist won the prize in the ‘Best Investigative Report’ category for her article: “Lebanese and Foreign Women Lease Their Bodies... to Entertain Men,” published in Nahar Ash Shabab, the weekly youth supplement of the Lebanese daily newspaper An Nahar.

In 2009, 76 journalists were killed around the world (a quarter more than 2008), 33 were kidnapped, and nearly 600 others were arrested because their work was disturbing. Moreover, censorship continues to affect all types of media, including internet, in many countries.

Patrick Laurent, Ambassador - Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, says: "The region of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Gulf is no exception. Beyond the harm to the physical integrity of journalists, all too often media outlets are controlled by the State, led and financed by political parties, forced to engage in self-censorship or they lack the most basic means for their work."

"Yet honest criticism is part of the life of a society and a nation. In the absence of a free and independent press - and therefore sometimes criticism - citizens can not rely on any information, and society remains frozen and sclerotic. Therefore, in my opinion freedom of the press is key to advancement of a country not only as a free and democratic society, but also in terms of development in all its dimensions: political, economic, social and cultural." Ambassador Laurent added.

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