Islamabad: Gulf News correspondent in Pakistan, Sana Jamal, won prestigious journalism award for her feature story published in the newspaper this year. Officials, diplomats, intellectuals and journalists attended the ceremony, held in Islamabad on Monday night.
Sana, who was delighted to receive the award, thanked the Gulf News editors. She said the accolades are evidence of quality journalism in the digital age and prove that industry is not dying, it is merely evolving.
The winning article titled “Pakistan: Mountain girls pursue love for football” was published in September 2019. The story focused on the country’s dedicated sportswomen from the remote valley of Shimshal in far north who are defying all odds to achieve their dreams, driven by passion for football and a desire to prove their skills to the world. Gulf News was praised at the award ceremony for focusing on distinctive stories that highlight the real face of Pakistan.
Agahi Awards, now in its seventh year, are Pakistan’s prestigious annual awards that recognized journalists from print, television, radio and the online media in more than 40 categories in 2019. Top national and international media gurus, opinion-makers and development experts were part of the judges’ panel that evaluated thousands of entries to recognize and appreciate the best journalistic practices in the country.
The winning journalists “show storytelling skillsets, techniques and comprehension of issues impacting the society as the awards “recognize the best knowledge creators in the society,” said Amir Jahangir, CEO of Mishal Pakistan and co-founder, Agahi Awards. The objective of the media awards is to create a healthy competition within the industry, encourage ethical and professional reporting practices that can create a pluralistic and impartial information space that citizens can trust, said Puruesh Chaudhary, President of the Agahi Awards.
