Dubai Press Club, the General Secretariat of the Arab Journalism Award (AJA), today announced it has finalised the selection of 60 jury panelists for the 10th edition, comprising prominent personalities from the media landscape across the Arab world.

The new Board of Directors for the awards will convene for the first time since its formation on 14 July to approve the selection of the panelists and to appoint committees for the 12 categories of the awards. Recommendations of the previous Board of Directors will also be reviewed as part of the General Secretariat's endeavour to consistently enhance the scope and format of the Arab Journalism Award.

Formed in July 2010, the Board of Directors is headed by Khalfan Al Roumi, former Minister for Information and Culture in the UAE. Comprising distinguished Arab media personalities, the Board has been mandated to oversee the awards over the next three years.

Muna Bu Samra, Deputy Manager, Arab Journalism Award said, "The selection of the jury panelists follows an exhaustive process of identifying some of the industry's best known names across all media platforms. We are glad we have successfully brought together 60 speciality judges and look upon the Board of Directors to confirm their selection next month. An average of five judges will be appointed for each category to streamline the evaluation process of the awards."

Submissions for the Arab Journalism Awards 2011, which will give away a total cash prize, opened on 24 October and will close on 29 January, 2011.

Bu Samra added, "We are extremely encouraged by the entries that are coming in from across the Arab world, ever since we opened submissions last month. We are confident the 10th edition of the awards will once again spotlight outstanding contributions of the media that deserve to be spotlighted."

For the first time in the history of the awards, online publications are allowed to participate in all categories. The categories of Journalism for Children, Health Journalism, Environmental Journalism and IT Journalism have been included under a new umbrella category titled 'Specialised Journalism'.

In another first for the awards, media organisations are allowed to nominate the work of their staff members. Journalists are also permitted to nominate themselves directly.

The Arab Journalism Award 2010 received more than 3,500 submissions from 19 Arab countries in 12 categories. It also received submissions from Arabic publications in six foreign countries. Registering an increase of 13% from the eighth edition, the submissions last year also represented 339% increase from the first edition of the award in 2000.