European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst Monday launched the eighth edition of the “Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press,” drawing attention to the dangers journalists working in neighboring Syria face.
“Today, eight years after [Kassir’s assassination], one journalist in Syria is killed every five days,” the ambassador said, highlighting that citizens everywhere have “a right to free and pluralistic media.”
At the launch, Eichhorst also introduced a new category in this year’s EU-sponsored competition. In addition to Best Opinion Article and Best Investigative Reporting Article, there will also be a Best Audiovisual Reporting category.
“Images can take us where words cannot. They can reveal the unspeakable and take you up close to where the story is taking place,” Eichhorst said of the new category.
The competition is open to reporters from the Mediterranean, Middle East and Gulf, and it honors Lebanese writer and journalist Samir Kassir who was assassinated in 2005.
