THREE journalists from GDN’s sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej were recipients of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Award for Journalism yesterday.
Mohammed Qasim Al Saie won the Best Interview Award, while Ali Abdulkhaleq picked up the Best Visual Journalistic Content Award and Jamil Ahmed Sarhan was the winner in the Best Infographic Report category.
They were amongst 10 winners who were presented with their awards by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, at a ceremony held at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay under his patronage.
Mr Sarhan said it was a proud moment for everyone in the Akhbar Al Khaleej (AAK) establishment led by Editor-in-Chief Anwar Abdulrahman, who has been instrumental in the quality of produced materials and its continuous rise and elevation.
“I always thought that the sports section was forgotten, but the award today shows it’s not,” he said.
“I had this idea for an infographic about the McLaren racing team, was given the go-ahead, and through the support of my colleagues, mainly Ahmed Jawad, we managed to turn it into the amazing thing that won this award.
“Now, we have to operate within higher standards, that get elevated and developed and progressed on a regular basis, and hopefully new infographics will be on the way.”
Mr Abdulkhaleq said the win meant a lot to him following eight years of vying for the award.
“The video was about Coastguard and violations at sea and it highlighted all the risks and dangers that those personnel face,” he said.
“It was something new and never touched before and as I received the award I started thinking about other untapped ideas to do videos about.
“To me this award is like the Ballon d’Or given to top footballers – I am really happy to be top of the top.”
Mr Al Saie, who is also Bahrain Journalists’ Association (BJA) board member and treasurer, said that he was full of joy and that he was pinching himself to check if it was true for the past three days.
“My winning interview was with Nada Al Saeed from the Economic Development Board (EDB) and it focused on investment opportunities and efforts to attract foreign heads to the country,” he said.
“When Bahrain is what someone is thinking about, then sensible ideas are born, and this was my brainchild, which has been received well and loved by all around.
“I am motivated to win in other categories in the upcoming editions – I have already started thinking about ideas as I got the award.”
BJA chairman and Al Ayam newspaper editor-in-chief Isa Al Shaiji was awarded as the 2025 Journalism Personality.
“I am proud that the journalism industry is evolving and adapting, when in other countries it is not, and every few years we are seeing new interested generations that are taking up the torch,” he said.
“We have pushed for a modified Publications, Printing and Press Law, it has been approved by Parliament, and now is the Shura Council’s time to push it ahead.
“With this modified law, I believe that there would be interested youngsters hopping into the industry, as it gives more guarantees that there would be no imprisonment or tough punishments threatening journalists.”
Meanwhile, BNA photographer Sultan Jassim Al Haddad who won for Best Photography said his winning entry was a silhouette of pilgrims as part of the Bahrain Haj Mission last year.
“I wanted to travel as part of the mission this year, but I had an emergency, so I stayed not knowing that Haj would grant me an award.”
Dr Abdulla Ahmed Al Madani (Al Ayam) was awarded for Best Column for his series about historic and prominent figures in Bahrain.
“I have regular columns about significant individuals from Bahrain and the Gulf and also some Arab personalities who had their fingerprints on Bahrain and my columns have been printed as an encyclopaedia and as I breathe I will work to shed light on more.”
Faisal Mohammed Al Ali (Al Watan), winner of the Best Press Institution’s Website or Electronic Account Award, said that the current website modifications were a pilot and further features were on the way.
“I am happy that my pilot ideas have won me an award, but the real deal is coming soon, with bigger and better features.”
Ali Al Fardan (Al Bilad Press) was awarded for Best Investigative Journalism for his feature on industry.
“Who said that Bahrain is a small country – it is small in size but the ideas are huge due to high activity.”
Amal Al Aradi, from the “Womens” column in Al Bilad, who was awarded Best Newspaper Niche Page or Supplement Award, said that more unexplored women cases were on the way.
“People want someone to talk about them, shed light on their joy, tears, hardship, accomplishments and achievements and we are here to put them in the forefront of the community.”
Three students – Noora Al Ruwaie, Abdulla Al Mulla and Farhand Jumail – heading the journalistic project ‘Turathna / Our Heritage’ in the Media and Public Relations Department of the Gulf University, were awarded the Best University Student Journalism Project Award.
Ms Al Ruwaie, representing the three, said that all were looking for jobs as videographers.
“We have an eye for beauty and Bahrain’s heritage is beautiful that we could do a lengthy series about.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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