PESHAWAR: The entries for the Amir Ahmad Siddiqui (AAS) Media Awards have been invited for this year’s competition from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa journalists by March 20, 2019.
According to a press release, the intending applicants were asked to send their entries by email to aasaward2019gmail.com.
They can also submit entries to the outgoing president of Khyber Union of Journalists Saif-ul-Islam Saifi. The journalistic work that appeared in local, national or international media during the one-year period ending on December 31, 2018 would be eligible for the competition, which is being held for the fourth consecutive year in memory of Amir Ahmad Siddiqui (late), a former journalist from Peshawar.
The five-member judges committee headed by senior journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai has decided to invite entries for the following categories: best investigative Urdu news story, best investigative English news story, best Urdu feature/column, best news picture, best radio package (Urdu or Pashto), and best television news package/report, which includes separate awards for the reporter and the video cameraman. The winners will get Rs 25,000 each and trophies.
According to the judges, this year’s awards will include one special award for a veteran journalist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for his/her journalistic work. The other members of the judges committee include Ismail Khan, Faizullah Jan, Chairman, Mass Communication Department, University of Peshawar, Shabina Ayaz, Resident Director, Aurat Foundation, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and Abdullah Jan, former president, Khyber Union of Journalists. The applicants were asked to submit only one of their journalistic works which appeared in 2018.
The judges committee decided to continue with the detailed criteria evolved for each of the categories already available on the awards’ official Facebook page.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Peshawar Press Club in April and a renowned journalist will be invited as the chief guest on the occasion. The awards are being held as a joint effort on the part of a group of senior journalists from Peshawar and the family of Lala Amir Ahmad Siddiqui to promote healthy competitive journalism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.