International Media Awards 2010

The International Council for Press and Broadcasting Sixth International Media Awards

The International Media Awards ceremony was held at a gala night in central London on Saturday 8^th of May. Western, Israeli and Arab journalists from across the Middle East gathered for the 6^th International Media Awards.

The International Media Award winners for 2010:

Outstanding Contribution to Peace Award

MOSSI RAZ & MAYSA SINIORA joint Israeli and Palestinian winners for All For Peace Radio, a joint Israeli-Arab radio station.

The Peace through Media Award

IAN BLACK Middle East Editor of the Guardian

SAMIA NAKHOUL is the Reuters Middle East Editor

AKIVA ELDAR is the Chief Political Columnist for Haaretz

PATRICK COCKBURN, Foreign Correspondent Independent and contributor to London Review of Books

Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award

BEN WEDEMAN is CNN’s Senior International Correspondent based in Cairo.

The Cutting Edge Award:

ITAI ANGHEL is a senior correspondent for the weekly current affairs program “UVDA” on Israel’s Channel 2 television

MOEEN AL HILOU is currently Gaza Producer for Israel's Channel 10 TV, as well as being a director for the Hebrew News Department at Palestine TV

The Breakaway Award:

RANJ ALAALDIN is a Middle East political and security risk analyst based at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He writes for the Guardian columnist and numerous other print and online publications.

Outstanding Contribution to New Media (The Bloggers’ Award)

BENNY ZIFFER has been the literary editor of Haaretz since 1987. More recently his blogs “Lo BeBeit Sifrenu” and “Dressed to Provoke” have risen to prominence in the Hebrew blogosphere.

MBI Lifetime Achievement Award

JIM MUIR is BBC Middle East Correspondent. Having begun his involvement with the region in Beirut in 1975, he is now based there again, focusing on issues both within Lebanon (particularly Hezbollah) and in the wider Middle East, traveling regularly to cover Iraq.

The Annual International Media Awards were established in 2005 and are one of the projects run by the Next Century Foundation. The awards celebrate the work of journalists covering the Middle East, whose high standards of analysis and reporting have helped break down barriers and promote better understanding of the people and politics of the region. The awards also recognise the skill, courage and determination of individual journalists when reporting from areas of conflict or political repression. The Awards honour and encourage journalists who have advanced our understanding of the Middle East through their outstanding journalism.

Speaking on behalf of the International Council for Press and Broadcasting, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, the Patron of the International Media Awards said “It is a great pleasure to be able to sponsor these Awards”.

Ms Dalia Salaam of the Next Century Foundation, convener of the awards along with Lord Stone of Blackheath, stated, “We are all ourselves honored to be able to honour these outstanding journalists on this special occasion.”

Lord Stone of Blackheath told reporters, “The Media Awards are awarded to journalists and broadcasters who, through the consistently high standard of their work, promote better understanding of the people and politics of the Middle East. All those journalists honoured are worthy recipients.”

Ambassador Mark Hambley said, “These awards demonstrate anew the positive role which media, in all its varied forms, is playing to increase understaning and reduce conflict in the Middle East. The award winners are to be congratulated for their persistence and courage, often under fire.”