Winners of the 2009 Pan Arab Intellectual Property Rights Media Awards were announced last night (January 24, 2010) at a gala ceremony held at the Sheraton Hotel, Doha, Qatar, under the support of Qatar’s Ministry of Justice. Established by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the leading global organisation that is the voice of the global commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace, the Award recognises media’s contributions to promoting a safe and legal digital society throughout the Arab World.
The awards were given in five contest categories including ‘Best Opinion Piece,’ ‘Best Investigative Piece,’ ‘Best News Article,’ ‘Best Feature Article,’ and ‘Best Interview,’ with a winner and runner up named for each.
The winners of the ‘Best News Article’ category were Mohammad Al Farah, Al Sharq newspaper, Qatar – first, and Dana Halawi, Daily Star newspaper, Lebanon – second; winners of ‘Best Opinion Piece’ category were Fadi Al Halabi, Future TV (Tawasul), Lebanon – first, and Samir Mahmoud, Shabab Maser newspaper, Egypt – second; winners of the ‘Best Feature Article’ category were Bashar Abu Leil, Al Watan newspaper, Qatar – first, and Mohammad Ghazal, The Jordan Times, Jordan – second.
‘Best Investigative Piece’ category awards went to Ayat Mohamad Said Al Fiki, ICT News newspaper, Egypt – first, and Naushad K Cherrayil, Gulf News newspaper, UAE – second. Winners of the ‘Best Interview’ category were Inas Ismail, Al Aalam Al Youm newspaper, Egypt –first, and Mahmood Nasheet, Akhbar Al Khaleej Newspaper, Bahrain – second.
