JEDDAH, 6 February 2008 -- The picture is still blurry regarding the participation of the Saudi English-language press in the ninth Jeddah Economic Forum's (JEF) Prize for Journalistic Distinction that is being awarded for the second consecutive year.

Khaled Al-Baity, president of the judging committee and general director of Jeddah TV, initiated his speech at a press conference at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) by saying, "This prize is designed for the Arabic journalistic work."

Al-Baity presided over the press conference yesterday that started 43 minutes late. When the issue of whether the English-language press would be included in the JEF contest, there appeared to be conflict within the committee. Some committee members suggested the articles to be considered would be translated into Arabic; others said they should be admitted and judged in English. Still others posed the question of whether non-Saudi coverage in Arabic should be considered. Al-Baity expressed objection to allowing non-Saudi media to participate.

Participating in the competition requires that the materials be published within a week prior and week after the Feb. 23-26 forum. This rule had editors of monthly magazines wondering if they would be left out of the contest.

Sami Bahrawi, JEF president, said that this is a technical issue that could be taken into consideration. Al-Baity said that the committee members would discuss this point in future meetings on the prize.

Articles to be taken into consideration must also focus on the Saudi economy. Background on previous JEF could be included in the stories; however, they should not be the main focus.

"Since journalistic works are targeting the largest segment in society, the language used must be simple and comprehensible," Al-Baity said.

Credibility is the main criterion that must be followed in doing a story. The stories should be illustrated with photos from the forum.

Journalists must not inject their views and should consult experts who are aware of the issues discussed during the event.

"It is recommended that journalistic works include what would improve the image of Saudi Arabia abroad politically, economically and socially," Al-Baity said.

This year's prizes total SR250,000 --SR175,000 for print journalism and SR75,000 for broadcast journalism. The total prize money for last year was SR100,000.

The prize this year will be divided into four categories with two prizes for each category.

The first category is the best-written story in a publication. The first winner will take SR50,000 while the first runner-up will take home SR25,000.

There will be two prizes for the best JEF coverage in a publication that will be SR50,000 and SR25,000 respectively.

Photographers will also have the chance to compete for the prize this year. The first prize for the best journalistic photo of the forum will be SR15,000 while the second will be SR10,000.

The best broadcast coverage, including TV and radio, will be SR50,000 while the second is SR25,000.

The works will be accepted immediately after the forum and until April 20. Online media is not included in the competition this year.

The ceremony of announcing winners last year was included in Jeddah summer festival. Kamal Abdel Qader said that he wishes there would be a bigger separate ceremony this year.

Members of the judging committee are Al-Baity as president, and Saad Al-Shihri, regional managing editor of Al-Jazeera newspaper, as deputy president.

Others are Ebtihaj Miniawi, managing editor of Okaz daily; Anmar Mutawi, assistant professor of international journalism at King Abdulaziz University; Khaled Al-Matrafi, director of Al-Arabiya TV Channel in the Kingdom; Kamal Abdulquadir, director of Al-Ain TV Channel; Yasin Al-Jifri, dean of Prince Sultan College; and Adnan Saeedi, director of Nida'a Al-Islam Radio Station in Jeddah.

By Lulwa Shalhoub

© Arab News 2008