Nominees for Arab Journalism Awards named

The Dubai Press Club, General-Secretariat for the Arab Journalism Awards, has released the names of 32 nominees across nine categories for the Arab Journalism Awards 2011 (AJA 2011). While a total of three journalists from across the region are shortlisted in eight categories, the Young Journalist segment features six nominees. This comes from the AJA General Secretariat's decision to award four winners in the latter category as against three last year, in response to the high number of entries received and as an incentive to encourage up-and-coming talent in the field of journalism. Winners of the Arab Journalism Awards 2011 will be honoured at a gala ceremony on May 18 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai. The event that will also bring the tenth session of the Arab Media Forum to a successful close will gather over 2,000 eminent regional and global media personalities. Muna Bu Samra, Deputy Manager, Arab Journalism Awards, said: "The Arab Journalism Awards continue to sustain the interest it has generated year after year, validating its status as one of the most coveted distinctions for those connected with the media sector. For this edition, we have received close to 3,800 submissions across all categories of the awards. "We congratulate the shortlisted nominees, for whom this is a significant accomplishment considering the stringent selection criteria. We also hope the nominees will inspire other journalists to produce quality work and vie for the distinguished honours next year." The following are the names of AJA 2011 nominees in the corresponding categories: Investigative Reporting 1. Ayman Al Sisi of Al Ahram, Egyptian newspaper 2. Abdul-Naser Al Ziheri of Al Masry Al Youm, Egyptian newspaper 3. Mahmoud Abdul-Salam Atta-Allah of Al Watan Al Youm, Egyptian newspaper Press Interviews Journalism 1. Hussain Hasan of Al Faisal Magazine 2. Mustafa Mohammad Abel-Fatah from Al Ajyal, Syrian Virtual Magazine 3. Mahmoud Muslim from Al Masry Al Youm, Egyptian newspaper  Specialized Journalism 1. Ahmad Atiya Ibrahim from Al Shurooq, Egyptian newspaper 2. Majdulin Abdullah Abdul-Hafez Hasan from the Arab Al Yawm, Jordanian newspaper 3. Jamal Mohammad Ghitas, from Loghat Al Asr Magazine, one of the publications of Al Ahram Egyptian newspaper 4. Abu Al Hajaj Mohammad Bashir, from Loghat Al Asr Magazine, one of the publications of Al Ahram Egyptian newspaper 5. Yaseen Ghallab from Loghat Al Asr Magazine, one of the publications of Al Ahram Egyptian newspaper Cultural Criticism 1. Khalil Sweleh from Tishreen, Syrian newspaper 2. Saeed Al Zahrani from Al Jazeera Cultural, Saudi-Arabian newspaper 3. Mohammad Al Samhouri from Al Hayat Al Jadida, Palestinian daily Economic Journalism 1. Majdy Obaid from Al Bayan, UAE newspaper 2. Abdul-Aziz Ahmad Abdul-Aziz, from Al Ahram Iktisadi, Egyptian Magazine 3. Ahmad Saleh Abdul-Mu'ti from Al Ahram Iktisadi, Egyptian Magazine Political Journalism 1. Mohammad Amin Al Masry from Al Ahram, Egyptian newspaper 2. Ashraf Jamal Ismail of Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, Egyptian newspaper 3. Amal Fawzi from Al Ahram, Egyptian newspaper Sports Journalism 1. Mutaz Al Shami from Al Ittihad, UAE newspaper 2. another submission for Al Ittihad, UAE newspaper 3. Ali Shahdan from Al Bayan, UAE newspaper Outstanding Cartoon Works 1. Emad Hajaj from Emarat Alyoum, UAE newspaper 2. Raed Khalil from Al Ba'ath, Syrian newspaper 3. Jihad Ortani from Al Watan, Saudi-Arabian newspaper  Young Journalist 1. Mohammad Othman of the Palestinian News Network 2. Qadat Ben Ammar of the Algerian Newspaper - Al Shurooq 3. Abdul Wahab Mohammad Alyaweh of Al Wafd Egyptian Newspaper 4. Hamza Mahmoud Issa Al Buhaisi of the online news portal Elaph in Britain 5. Sayed Zakaria Ismail of Palestine Newspaper 6. Amira Mohammad Abdel-Hafez of the Al Ahram Egyptian Newspaper