Inquirer Award winners: Our trip of a lifetime

Seeing double: Photojournalism Award winner Ala’a Eddine Badarneh meets broadcaster Jon Snow

Meet the winners of the 2009 Inquirer Awards.

The super-talented journalists visited Britain for a week as part of their prize package, meeting leading figures from the world of journalism and politics.

The Inquirer Award recognises the work of investigative reporters in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq.  The award, focusing on outstanding work in print, television and photojournalism, is managed by the Thomson Foundation with funding from the UK Foreign Office.

During their stay, the winners visited the ITN and BBC studios, where they were interviewed about their achievements. They went on to meet the Guardian newspaper’s Middle East editor and director of the Middle East press team at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The group also spoke to Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat policy staff during a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

The winning photojournalists enjoyed their own special programme. They visited Panos Pictures, the UK photo agency specialising in the developing world, and chatted with veteran newscaster Jon Snow at the National Portrait Gallery. Another highlight was a visit to the Sunday Times Magazine, renowned for its innovative approach to design.

Said Ala’a Eddine Badarneh, winner of the Inquirer Photojournalism Award: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, as a photojournalist working in Palestine, to meet with the photo editor of the Times Magazine.

Television category award winner Josaphine Deeb, from Lebanon, said she was looking forward to putting her experiences to good use: “This was truly an invaluable experience – to have the opportunity to see a vibrant, professional and responsible media in action!  I returned home energised and excited about doing more investigative reporting.”

The group was also joined by Eyad Al Baba from Gaza, winner of the 2008 award for photojournalism, who was unable to travel last year.

Added Thomson Foundation training officer David Quin, who managed the trip, commented:
“I believe the participants will have come away with substantially increased confidence as well as tips to apply to their everyday work.

“They have successfully handled interviews and discussions with senior Foreign Office people as well as with high-profile UK journalists. That is bound to give them a stronger sense of their own capabilities.”

The winners of the 2009 Inquirer Awards are:

PRINT CATEGORY: Hmoud Al Ajaj (Syria, working for Al Ba’ath Newspaper)
TELEVISION CATEGORY: Josephine Deeb (Lebanon,  working for OTV)
PHOTOJOURNALISM CATEGORY: Ala’aeddine Badarneh (Palestine, working for European Press Agency)