Palestinian Journalist Wins Kerala Media Academy's 'Mediaperson Of The Year' Award

Kerala Media Academy bestowed its “Mediaperson of the Year” award to Al-Jazeera Gaza Bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh. The Aljazeera Journalist has been reporting from the war-ravaged Gaza enclave since the beginning of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in October, 2023. The Kerala Media Academy in its release said that the award will be presented by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and it will consist of Rs 1 Lakh rupees, a citation and a sculpture. The release further noted that the Palestinian journalist was selected for the award following the recommendations of the Association of Investigative Journalists and a committee of editors.

The journalist had continued his reporting even after losing his wife, two children and a grandchild during the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Wael Al-Dahdouh is currently in Qatar for treatment. While covering the war in the UN school in Khan Younis, he got injured in an Israeli drone attack in December 2023. During the attack, his cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa was killed.

According to RS Babu, the Chairman of the Kerala Media Academy, Wael Al-Dahdouh described the award as an invaluable honour and expressed his appreciation for the same after he was informed about it.

It is learnt that the decision to confer the award upon the Al Jazeera journalist was after taking his struggle and resilience to report from the battle zone into consideration. He had been instrumental in bringing the pathetic plight of the war-torn Gaza to the world through Al Jazeera. According to a report, he has lost a total of eight family members including his wife and children. After all these losses, Wael Al-Dahdouh continued on the battle zone, reporting ground realities.