News

AMEJA's newly-formed Resource Committee met to discuss possible resources and guides AMEJA can develop. Member of the committee proposed several topics and agreed to share more ideas before deciding on their first project.

The AMEJA mentorship committee met with Dima Hamdan, the editor of the Marie Colvin Journalism Network (MCJN) to learn about the organization's mentorship model as the committee starts to discuss the type of program it wants to have for AMEJA's members. 

AMEJA announced its jury panel, which includes award-winning journalists from NPR, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and NYU's Journalism School New York, NY - The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) has launched a series of awards to highlight exceptional work by and about Arab, Middle Eastern and North African communities. AMEJA will present three awards along with a $500 cash prize for each winner. The categories are as follows:

• Best coverage of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region
  

• Best coverage of MENA immigrant and heritage communities in North America
  

• The Walid El-Gabry Memorial Award, named after one of AMEJA’s founders to recognize the work of an AMEJA member

The first two prizes are open to all journalists and will be voted on by a jury panel. The jury panel includes:

• Mohamad Bazzi, NYU Journalism Professor and Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies Director

• Nima Elbagir, CNN Chief International Investigative Correspondent

• Leila Fadel, NPR Morning Edition Host

• Kareem Fahim, Washington Post Middle East Bureau Chief

• Ayman Mohyeldin, MSNBC Host of ‘AYMAN’

• Jason Rezaian, Washington Post Columnist and #544Days Podcast Host

The Walid El-Gabry Memorial Award will recognize the work of an AMEJA member and will be voted on by AMEJA’s members. 

"Promoting accurate and nuanced coverage of the Middle East and North Africa regions and people is at the core of our mission," said AMEJA President Hoda Osman. "We're excited to launch the AMEJA Awards so we can lift up exceptional news coverage by journalists working tirelessly to get the story right."

AMEJA is accepting submissions now through August 28, 2022. To be eligible, the work must have been published, in English, between January 1, 2021 and August 1, 2022.All formats are welcome, from print to podcasts and everything in between. AMEJA plans to announce the winners in the fall of 2022.

The link to submit a nomination is here.

For more information or to speak with a member of AMEJA’s leadership team, contact awards@ameja.org. 

AMEJA hosted a panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington DC on July 28th to honor Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Speakers included Laila Al-Arian, Laila Barghouti, Rhana Natour and the event was moderated by Zahra Hankir. A recording of the event can be found here.

For the first time since its inception in 2005, AMEJA is launching a series of awards to highlight exceptional work by and about Arab and Middle Eastern communities. AMEJA will present three awards along with a modest $500 cash prize for each winner for: Best coverage of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, best coverage of MENA heritage communities in North America and the Walid El-Gabry Memorial Award, named after one of AMEJA’s founders to recognize the work of an AMEJA member. To find out more and apply click here. 

AMEJA’s board held its monthly board meeting virtually on Wednesday July 6th, 2022. The board discussed the recently-formed volunteer committees, the 2022 AMEJA Awards and a DC event to honor Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The New York Times published an OpEd by AMEJA member Maurice Chammah entitled

America’s ‘Machinery of Death’ Is Slowly Grinding to a Halt on June 29th, 2022. Chammah is staff writer at the Marshall Project and the author of “Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty.” Photo credit: Tamir Kalifa

AMEJA has formed five volunteer committees to focus on a number of areas to help the organization advance its mission. The committees include: mentorship, events, resource development, digital and fundraising. If you are a member and interested in joining one of the committees, email: board@ameja.org

AMEJA members attended the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) conference in Denver, including several who were panel speakers. Pictured from the right: Karen Zraick (NYT), Hoda Osman (ARIJ, France 24), Adam Yahya Rayes (KUNC), Robyn Vincent (KUNC), Maurice Chammah (The Marshall Project), Mariam Elba (ProPublica) Missing: ​​Samah Assad (CBS Chicago), Sewell Chan (Texas Tribune), Melanie Asmar (Chalkbeat).

 

AMEJA is excited to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rory Peck Trust, a UK-based non-profit organization “dedicated to the support, safety and welfare of freelance newsgatherers around the world.” RPT has several grants available to freelancers. AMEJA and RPT also plan to hold joint training workshops and events.