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| Representing ICFJ at the conference. |
Investigative journalism in the Arab world has been an alien type of journalism that was never really powerful or effective, if existed. But in recent years, it has become more and more visible, despite the risks and dangers Arab investigative journalists face in defiance of their totalitarian governments.
The visibility and the new activity of this type of journalism appearing in several Arab news outlets has become more and more known and encouraged, thanks to international and regional media assistance organizations. Investigative journalism today is better than ever in the Arab world and is still in progress. Today, Arab investigative journalists are defying taboos and challenging high-level officials with facts they obtained through thorough investigation and reporting.
Such a vast improvement was evident at the Third Arab Investigative Journalism Conference, which was organized by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), a Amman-based, regional media support network that seeks to support independent quality professional journalism, through funding in-depth journalism projects, and offering media coaching.
During the conference, which was held from November 26 to 28 in Amman, Jordan, three investigative journalists from the Arab world were awarded the Seymour Hersh Award for Best Investigative Report.
I had the honor to represent my employer, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) there, meeting the winners and several other prominent Arab and international journalists such as Drew Sullivan from the United States, BBC’s Tim Sebastian from the United Kingdom, Mark Hunter from France, Hisham Qassem and Yosri Fouda from Egypt and others hailing from 16 Arab countries.
This year’s award was presented by ARIJ, in coordination with ICFJ, which last year honored American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh with its Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism, recognizing his outstanding work over 40 years.
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| Me with the first place winner, Dlovan Barwari |
The winners of the ARIJ/ICFJ Seymour Hersh Award were from Iraq and Egypt. Iraqi journalist Dlovan Barwari, whom I had the honor to work with for the Washington Post in Iraq, received the first place award for his investigative report that tackled the issue of the female circumcision in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. His fellow Iraqi journalist, Milad Al Jibouri, won the second place for writing a report in which she investigated the recruitment of young Iraqis by militants and armed groups, taking advantage of their traumatic war-tainted childhood. The third place winner was Egyptian reporter Siham Al Pasha who investigated the use of poisonous material in furniture-making in Dumyat, Egypt and how this material is imported in broad daylight.
The three winning reports competed with 16 other reports that reached the finalists list. They were written by reporters from Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.
To further boost independent quality investigative journalism in the Arab world, ICFJ has partnered with ARIJ to create six investigative units in Arab newsrooms. ICFJ’s Knight International fellow Amr El-Kahky is creating these first investigative reporting units in Jordan, Palestine and Egypt.
The one mile road starts with one step, so says the proverb. Investigative journalism in the Arab world is taking its baby steps. It’s flourishing and advancing to create better societies and communities. Kudos to ARIJ and ICFJ for making this happen!
