Sheikh Mohammed meets board members of Arab Journalism Award

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, met the board members of the Arab Journalism Award (AJA), newly appointed under his approval.

The meeting was attended by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Media Council.

This came during the board’s first meeting, chaired by Mona Al Marri, Vice President and Managing Director of AJA.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Maitha Buhumaid, Executive Director of the Marketing and Communications Sector at Dubai Media Incorporated and Secretary General of the AJA, and board members including a group of intellectual and journalistic figures, media leaders and academics from the Arab world, namely Dr. Sultan Al Nuaimi, Director General of Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Ghassan Charbel, Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, Nayla Tueni, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar; writer Imad Eddin Adeeb, Mohammed Al Hammadi, Director General of the Emirates News Agency and Editor-in-Chief of Jusoor Post news website; writer and thinker Dr. Mohammed Al Rumaihi, and Ahmed Al Moslemani, Chairman of National Media Authority and President of Cairo Center for Strategic Studies.

The board also includes Hassan Al Kanuni, General Manager of the Moroccan newspaper Hespress, Abdul Rahman Abu Maleh, CEO of Thamnyah, Ammar Taqi, founder of Black Box programme, Sawsan Al Shaer, Dr. Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Arimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Omani Journalists Association; Raed Barqawi, Executive Editor-in-Chief of Al-Khaleej newspaper, and Faisal Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Arab News.

The meeting discussed the vision of the AJA, its bylaws and future plans in light of the goals and vision set by the award’s sponsor.

During the meeting, which was held in Dubai and organised by the Dubai Press Club, Al Marri expressed her sincere thanks and gratitude for the trust that Sheikh Mohammed placed in the new board.

“Over the successive years, the AJA has succeeded in leaving a clear imprint on the record of Arab media with a legacy of distinguished works that succeeded in reaching the honoring podium. Today, with the passage of 24 years since the launch of the award, and with all the rapid and successive daily changes within the various media sectors, we need to move the award to a new future stage that keeps pace with these changes. We are proud to shoulder this responsibility for the next three years, with the rest of board members, thanks to their long experience and prestigious position in the most important platforms of Arab media work, to achieve the future goals of the award,” she said.

Welcoming the board members, Dr. Maitha Buhumaid said: “Today we begin a new phase in the journey of an award that has served the Arab media for 24 years, keeping in mind clear goals set by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, the award’s founder and patron, which focus on stimulating creativity and encouraging innovative ideas in the media tracks covered by the award, so that the Arab media can keep pace with the development of the media industry globally.” “We will work together for the award to be positioned as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid aspires to see. Hence, the board members will not be tasked only with developing the award and approving the winning works but will also be responsible for representing the award in local, regional and international forums and events and proposing initiatives that enhance the award’s position through partnerships with media institutions in Arab countries to ensure wider participation in the award, she said.

The new board is the eighth in the history of the award since its launch in October 1999 to enhance the role of Arab journalism by encouraging Arab journalists and motivating them to be creative and honoring those who excel in their journalistic production.

The award moved to a new future stage on November 28, 2021 under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed and with the follow-up of Sheikh Ahmed.