AJ+

This was a rare example of meeting one's heroes working out well. It was a privilege to meet John Oliver at the Committee to Protect Journalists' annual gala last night, and to hear his support for journalists everywhere as well as kind words for our colleagues at Al Jazeera Media Network specifically. His show takes a deeply empathetic approach to explanatory storytelling that all traditional journalists could learn from, and it gives us a huge buzz every single time one of our AJ+ reports is featured on Last Week Tonight. Many thanks to Jodie Ginsberg and her team for putting on such a moving event that helped us process what has been such a difficult year in the journalistic community and for reminding everyone time and again that #journalismisnotacrime.

“Shame on the media for not defending the journalists.” AJ+’s managing director, Dima Khatib, explains how many media outlets have failed to stand up for journalists in Gaza.  

📣 📣 📣 I am very proud to announce that AJ+ Français has won two Silver Lovie and two People's Lovie at The Lovie Awards for "Comment l’Éthiopie a échappé à la colonisation?" and "Les Voix de Gaza : une course contre la montre pour rester en vie." This recognition is a testament to the hard work and creativity of the AJ+ français team (Editorial, Creative, Post Prod, Sound&Studio...) 🙌 But most importantly, these awards highlight the professionalism and resilience of Palestinian journalist Rami Abu Jammous, who continues to deliver crucial insights despite being a direct victim of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We are particularly proud of how our videos have thoughtfully addressed the sensitive topic of colonialism. Both videos depicted how colonialism acts as the negation of the other. Thank you to everyone who supported us and voted for our videos. 🙏

Great early career opportunity with Al Jazeera Media Network here 👀

The Murrow Awards are one of the most meaningful nights in the U.S. journalistic calendar, and we were honored to accept an award for the Best Video Series for AJ+'s work with Bisan Owda. But it's a real shame that the organizers took time to acknowledge the media professionals who covered Hurricane Milton (which is of course challenging), but not the Palestinians in Gaza who've been working through the deadliest period for journalists since the CPJ's records began. Just this week one of our colleagues, Fadi Al-Deeb, went into a coma after being shot by Israeli forces. By the CPJ's count, over 128 journalists and media workers have been killed since October 7, with the vast majority in Gaza. While the recognition from events like this means a lot to us, we will continue to use them to honor the sacrifices of journalists in our community in every possible setting. We will also take every opportunity to remind our fellow professionals that journalism is not a crime.

Wow, Bisan Owda and our team AJ+ Reports won an Emmy. It’s not lost on me how dystopian it feels to celebrate while Bisan is trapped, reporting under Israeli bombardment in Gaza. She should’ve been here receiving the award with us. What an honor and privilege it’s been to produce Bisan’s stories and help humanize Palestinian voices. It’s heartwarming to see her courage, tenacity and compassion resonate around the world. Thank you to the journalistic community for standing with us. This was a team effort and I want to share this honor with my dear colleagues. #JournalismIsNotACrime

This award should have rightfully been accepted by Bisan Owda. It is testimony to the power of one young woman armed only with an iPhone and a commitment to the truth, who has survived almost a year of bombardment from one of the world's most powerful militaries. Many of her Palestinian journalist colleagues in Gaza have not been lucky - over 116 have been killed, including several Al Jazeera Media Network staff. Our colleagues in the West Bank also reported live at gunpoint last week on the shut down of their office. This award means a lot in terms of the recognition from our news media community, and at this crucial time we are urging them to stand with us and say that Journalism is Not A Crime, but Targeting Journalists Is.

Bisan Owda and AJ+ just won an Emmy Award for her films from Gaza. Bisan, who has also been honored with Peabody and Murrow Awards said: "We all know the truth, but our fear undermines our ability to say it out loud, and sometimes even drives us to hide it! "But remember that truth is the only way we can be free from fear.” AJ+ Managing Director Dima Khatib said: "Bisan’s reporting has been humanising the Palestinian story after decades of mainstream media’s systematic dehumanisation of Palestinians. "Winning this Emmy is a win for humanity.” Accepting the award on behalf of Bisan and AJ+, Supervising Executive Producer Jon Laurence said: "This award is testimony to the power of one young woman armed only with an iPhone."

AJ+ turned ten this week. I clearly remember looking at many of its early innovations - text on screen video, meeting audiences where they were at on social platforms, and deliberately amplifying voices not heard elsewhere in the media - and being immediately inspired. AJ+ has had to evolve since launch - not least because its innovations have been so widely copied and accepted as standard practice. Last month marked my five year anniversary with the brand and with Al Jazeera Media Network - and the pace of change has been relentless. It's involved working under the leadership of Moeed Ahmad, Tony Karon, and with our amazing teams to adapt the AJ+ newsroom, to meet the challenges of the pandemic, constant algorithm shifts and orienting our focus towards a global audience rather than being strictly focused on the US. It has been incredibly challenging, and incredibly rewarding - especially in the last year, with our multi award-winning coverage of Gaza across all four AJ+ languages. Our teams are now distributed across the US and across four continents - so it was tough not being able to mark the occasion with everyone in person. I couldn't be more grateful for our teams' work, which in turn makes me incredibly confident in our ability to respond to whatever the next ten years bring.