"Be a Distinctive Journalist" at AUK

Under the slogan "Be a Distinctive Journalist," the organizers of Sheikh Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah Award for Journalistic Excellence launched their awareness campaign aiming to establish a new generation of expert journalists in Kuwait. This year, universities around Kuwait were among the most important targets of the campaign.

On Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, the organizers visited the American University of Kuwait (AUK) to meet the students and present the competition guidelines, conditions and requirements for eligible participation.

Ayman Al-Ali, Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee, conducted the presentation at the AUK Auditorium. He started off by introducing the competition and the motives behind initiating this contest. Al-Ali spoke of Kuwait's keen interest to establish a new generation of expert journalistic writers in Kuwait.

"The main aim of this competition is to entice the youth category, that's why we are operating in means similar to the youth, use of technology, where our registration process is possible via the website, in a way to make it easier for the youth to participate and attract them more. We hope to have high youth participation this year," said Al-Ali.

The competition this year seeks not only to attract the Kuwaiti youth, but also to polish their journalistic skills. Therefore, the conditions for the Kuwaiti Youth category come with more privileges to facilitate the process of their participation. This includes a lower word count and the possibility of English submissions, accompanied by Arabic translation. Additionally, the submissions should be related to Kuwait, yet not limited to a single topic, allowing more space for creativity and innovation to be part of the participation.

The deadline for participation in the competition is scheduled to be the 17th of January 2013. Participants will be required to visit Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) to complete their registration application and submit their work to Yasir Al-Saadi, Media Officer.

In order to have a comprehensive judging approach, the judging panel of the competition will consist of professional journalists and academics. One of the announced renowned members of the judging committee will be Dr. Ahmed Al-Sharif, Head of Media Department at Kuwait University.

From their side, the Communication and Media Department at AUK saw this competition as a valuable opportunity for students to participate and increase their exposure to technical and professional writing. Therefore, in collaboration with the Public Affairs Department, the session was successfully held to encourage interested students to learn more about the competition and share their questions.

"I would like to thank the organizers of the Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah Award for Journalistic Excellence for taking the time to talk to our students. I hope our students realize that participating in this competition will give them an opportunity to compete with other aspiring writers and to improve their writing skills," said Dr. Mohamed Satti, Chair & Assistant Professor at Department of Communication & Media.

The informational session given by Al-Ali did not only attract AUK Media students, but also students from different majors who were interested to know more about the competition guidelines, hoping to submit future contributions.

It is with the support of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, Prime Minister, and his aspiration to create many initiatives to encourage youth participation and their involvement that this competition is running for its fifth session. Al-Ali, therefore, promised of a paradigm shift in attracting youth and creating more opportunities in future sessions.

Sheikh Mubarak Al-Hamad Al -Sabah Award for Journalistic Excellence was founded five years ago and took the name of the late, Sheikh Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, with the support and blessing of the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, Prime Minister, who has spared no effort in the development of this award, which aims to encourage excellence journalist and for the first time the Kuwaiti youth, also create a spirit of competition to take them to the ranks of the highest levels of the global media.

Written by: Aya Abdulhamid

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 15th January 2013