2016 marks the 11th anniversary of the first Samir Kassir Award for Press Freedom in the Lebanon and Middle East.
On Monday February 8th Christina Lassen, the European Union’s ambassador to the Lebanon, launched the 2016 edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Press Freedom. Created in 2006 by the European Union, this award commemorates a Lebanese journalist and writer assassinated in 2005.
The Award goes to journalists who report and uncover violations, violence, injustice, corruption or mismanagement, often at the risk of their own life.
Applications are open until April 10th for journalists working either in the written or broadcast media (TV channels, production companies, internet television), with no age limit. The following countries are concerned: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen.
Three prizes will be awarded: for the best opinion piece, the best investigative article and the best broadcasting report.
The awards ceremony will be on June 2nd in Beirut. The jury consists of seven voting members of Arab and European media and an observer representing the European Union.
Sources : www.lorientlejour.com, www.samirkassiraward.org
