Awards to journalists for stories on environmental issues

taherinima on 19. December 2022

By Lamis Issa

Joudy Alasmar, a Lebanese journalist, won the first award during a closing ceremony in Tunis on 30 November 2022 for her investigation on the landfill in Tripoli.  

From the left to the right, Rafik ben Abdallah a journalist and member of the oversight body for access to information, Joudy Alasmar, a journalist from Lebanon and Karim Belhadj Aissa, ARTICLE19 MENA Transparency Program Coordinator (Photo: ARTICLE 19 MENA)

Her work is part of a five-year collaboration between ARTICLE 19 MENA (Middle East and North Africa), the Institute of Press and Information Sciences (IPSI) at La Manouba University and JMIC on “Support the right to information and investigative journalism in the MENA region.”  The edition of 2022 focused on environmental issues. 

The award ceremony was organized in hybrid format with the presence of trainee journalists, trainers and coaches, and other guests. The trainee journalists presented their experiences in this program and highlighted the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned. 

As part of the ceremony, a discussion was held about investigative journalism and environmental issues in the MENA region.  

Mayssa Sandli, environmental activist and owner of 1st Media specialized in environmental issues in Tunisia. (Photo: ARTICLE19 MENA)

This discussion was conducted between journalists, including investigative journalists and journalists specialized on environmental issues, experts on access to information, and environmental activists who took part in this discussion to debate challenges, the accessibility of environmental information within the laws on access to information in the MENA region, and the importance of environmental journalism.