Award launched in honor of Simon Khazen

The Simon Khazen Award, a new award for audiovisual media achievements, was launched in honor of late director general of the Voice of Lebanon Radio Station Sheikh Simon al-Khazen.

The award will be given to the best television or radio news piece with the most benefit to the people. It consists of $20,000 equally divided between two winners: one for the best television piece and one for the best radio piece.

Participants should ensure their projects do not exceed 15 minutes and they should present their candidacies in person or through the media institutions they work for. Applications will be accepted between March 24, 2010 and January 24, 2011.

The winning projects will be announced on February 16, 2011, after being judged by a panel of academics and media experts. The panel will also be expected to give a speech.

Information Minister Tarek Mitri attended the launching ceremony and praised Khazen’s achievements, stressing that he and Khazen had long talks about media laws and reforms.