Four young journalists from Belgium, Egypt, Italy and Israel are the winners of the first Euro-Mediterranean Journalist Prize for Cultural Diversity, established by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures, and the International Federation of Journalists, to encourage reporting about citizens living together in culturally diversified societies in Europe and the Mediterranean.
At a prize-giving ceremony in Alexandria on 10 September, the winners will be sponsored for a reporting tour to four countries.
The international jury, which met in Alexandria on 3 and 4 August, selected the winners from 50 candidates from all over the 35 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region.
The jury members were Amira Hass of Haaretz (Israel), Daoud Kuttab of AmmanNet (Jordan), Jean-Paul Marthoz of Enjeux Internationaux (Belgium) and representing the International Federation of Journalists, Robert Solé of Le Monde (France) and Anna Lindh Foundation executive director Traugott Schoefthaler.
In addition to journalistic quality, the main criteria were promoting respect for diversity and providing insights into the way various communities in their societies live together.
The winners were:
Mahitab Abdel Raouf from Egypt, for her article Les indésirables (The Undesirables) published in the monthly French magazine La Revue d’Egypte in October 2005. Les indésirables explores the situation of Sudanese refugees in Egypt. The article was applauded by the jury for being “a critical and professionally written article fulfilling the criteria of good journalism… tough on a system of discrimination but not on the people involved”;
Yoav Stern from Israel, for his series of articles All in the Family in Umm Al-Fahm, published in the daily newspaper Haaretz in February 2006. The series presented three stories from a Palestinian city in Israel. According to the jury, the articles indicate that “stereotypes are created as a result of ignorance.”
Hugues Dorzée from Belgium, for his series of articles La Turquie d’Ataturk, Sainte République (Ataturk’s Turkey, Devout Republic), published in the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir in February 2006. The articles tackled the ambiguity between official Islam, religious practices and secular ideology in Turkey. The jury highly appreciated the articles for their “well-thought out and well-planned reporting… avoiding moral judgement and giving space to many, diverse voices” and
Annalisa Monfreda from Italy, for her article The Free Song of Arbëresh, published in Geo Italia in April 2006. The article portrayed the relatively unknown Albanian minority living in Southern Italy. The jury concluded that “the article contradicts common stereotypes about migration, showing that it can be an enrichment for a country.”
The jury also awarded Honorable Mentions to three other
journalists: the Egyptian journalist Amira Doss for her article L’autre que je ne connais pas (The other whom I do not know), published in Ahram Hebdo in June 2006, the Danish journalist Helen Hajjaj for her article Equality in the Name of Islam, published in Dagbladet Information in March 2006 and the Slovakian journalist Maria Husova for her article Uncovering the Past, published in the Transitions online electronic newsletter in January 2006.
All the winning articles will be published in English, French and Arabic.
Next month marks the third anniversary of the assassination of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. Her name was given to the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation in recognition of her advocacy of equal partnership and respect between North and South.