Journalism award draws record number of entries

Dubai: The General Secretariat of the Arab Journalism Awards announced the seventh edition of the awards has received 2,609 entries in 12 categories from the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq and Syria.

Special prize

The coveted recognition for journalistic excellence will give away up to Dh863,000 in cash for best entries in politics, business, investigative journalism, IT, columnist, culture, sports, environment, photo-journalism, caricature, interview and children's journalism.

A special award will be presented to the Media Personality of the Year.

Maryam Bin Fahad, executive director of Arab Journalism Awards (AJA), said the General Secretariat's decision of extending the submission deadline to January 15 has worked in its favour, resulting in an overwhelming response.

Maryam said: "We have received the largest number of entries from Egypt, followed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia." The General Secretariat recently conducted road shows in several countries as part of its endeavour to attract deserving media persons.