Dubai: Ten students were awarded during the 16th Arab Media Forum on Tuesday, after being chosen as the winners of the ‘Investigative Journalism’ competition for high school students.
Divided into two categories, journalism in English language, and journalism in Arabic language, the competition included a total of 70 entries, of whom 40 students were shortlisted. Five students were finally chosen as the winners for each category.
Fifteen-year-old Egyptian Brexam Magdi Lotfi came in first place in the English journalism category, winning a four-year scholarship to study journalism at the Mohammad Bin Rashid College of Journalism at the American University of Dubai, while Haya Mahfouz, 17, from Lebanon won the first prize in the Arabic category.
“In my article, I spoke about world hunger, and how more effort needs to be placed to feed the poor. I highlighted how Dubai specifically is working on feeding the hungry through the food bank and the various campaigns they are launching,” said Mahfouz, who attends Dubai International School.
The grade 12 student said she was inspired to further investigate the topic of world hunger after she took part in a project to feed students in a school in Ajman as a part of the UAE food bank.
“I am planning to pursue a career in broadcast journalism and hope to become a TV host and presenter one day,” added Mahfouz.
Meanwhile, first place winner in English category, Lotfi, told Gulf News her winning piece was about the dangers of using the mobile phone while driving. “I collected information on accidents that have happened in Dubai and proposed solutions on how they could have been avoided. I also included people’s opinions on the topic, and reached out to experts like the Major-General of Dubai Police,” said Lotfi, who is attending Pristine Private School in Dubai.
The youngest contestant in the competition, Lotfi, is excited to start her university education in two years, and hopes to pursue a career in print journalism. “I find that journalism helps people, and finds solutions to their problems, and that’s what I want to do,” added Lotfi.
The other winners were also awarded with complimentary gifts from the competition’s organising partners Paris Gallery, along with vouchers from Emirates Bank.
The competition’s criteria required students to pick a topic or issue that is either local, cultural, social or national, said Nader Makenzi, media counsellor at AUD, and one of the competition’s organisers.
“The students have chosen very interesting issues and topics and the articles are beautifully written,” he told Gulf News.
Makenzi also pointed out the competition will extend to all students at every high school across the country starting next year. “Another announcement is that in the next academic year, any Emirati student who wants to study journalism will be receiving a four-year scholarship to study at AUD,” he added.
Yasmine Bahrani, from the competition’s judging committee, also told Gulf News that while the contestants were given the freedom to pick their topics, the overall decision was based on a student’s energy and “journalistic spirit”. “The students are young and don’t have experience, so what I focused on was the students who have the spirit of a journalist and the dream to become a journalist, and that’s how I know I made the right choice,” said Bahrani.
