Sharjah government communication award submission still open

Sharjah: Submission of applications for the first Sharjah Government Communication Award 2013 will remain open until September 15.

The Award, which was announced on September 23 last year, aims at raising media performance in government institutions across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

All submissions and judging procedures are conducted online through the awards website. Osama Samra, Director of Sharjah Media Centre, said that the website has recently been updated to make submissions easier.

“Whoever submitted their application before the update needs to resubmit their work,” he added at a workshop held on Sunday.

The Sharjah Government Communication Award is organised under the patronage of Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.

The first round of the Awards will have 11 categories, divided into two groups – selected categories and nominated categories. Selected categories do not need nominations and will be chosen by the judging panel and the Sharjah Media Centre, while the nomination category requires those eligible to nominate their work. Six of the 11 awards will have a cash prizes ranging between $6,000-$10,000 (Dh22,031-Dh36,719)

Some of the award’s categories are open to the entire GCC, some are only for the UAE and some are specific to Sharjah.

This round of the awards covers work between the period September 2012- September 2013, Samra noted.

The categories include Media Personality – GCC, Best Practices in Government Communication - Sharjah, Young Media Person - Sharjah, Best Official Spokesperson - Sharjah, Best Topical TV Programme - UAE and Best News Website - UAE, to name a few.

The judging panel, introduced at the press conference last year, includes Dr Abdul Rahman Azzi, Dean of the Communications College at The University of Sharjah, Dr Abdullah Jawdat Rizkallah, Founding Member and CEO of Al Risalah Satellite Channel, and Ebrahim Al Abed, Director-General of the National Media Council, among others.

Applications are open in both English and Arabic on http://www.communicationaward.ae/.

Winners will be announced and awarded during the last quarter of this year.