Applications are open to the region’s most prestigious journalism award, the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press. Completed applications with all submission materials must be sent by 1 April 2021 at the latest.

Three awards will be granted for: best opinion article, best investigative article, and best audiovisual news report. The winner in each of the three categories will be awarded €10,000.

The contest is open to all journalists working in or for written (daily, weekly, monthly print or online) press, or audiovisual (TV stations, production houses, and online TV networks). The award is granted and fully funded by the European Union and is open, as per European Union rules, to nationals of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern countries, including: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.

Candidates must submit an opinion article, an investigative article, or an audiovisual report centered around one or more of the following topics: rule of law, human rights, good governance, fight against corruption, freedom of expression, democratic development, or citizen participation.

The “Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press”, which has been awarded by the European Union since 2006, honours the Lebanese journalist and writer Samir Kassir who was assassinated in 2005. The competition for the Award has attracted since its creation more than 2,200 candidates in the Middle East, the Gulf and North Africa.

The EU stands up for freedom of expression, and calls to end impunity for crimes against journalists.

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Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press – website