MADA congratulates the Palestinian journalist winners of the Thompson awards and hopes that these successes will encourage improvements in local media performance

Ramallah – 8 February 2012: The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) wishes to expresses its deep pride in the exemplary professional achievements of a large group of Palestinian journalists, who continue to win regional and international awards. Last week the Thompson Foundation announced the winners of its investigative journalism awards, with seven Palestinian journalists among the winners, including Maha Shahwan, Samar Darimli, Hamza Hattab, Mahmoud Alian, Adel Mehanna and Ahmed Deeb

MADA congratulates all of the journalists for their success, demonstrating once again their efficiency and professional ability in journalism and additionally hopes that these successes and professional recognition will reflect positively on local media performance and contribute to the advancement of media performance in Palestine, particularly in the field of investigative journalism.

The Palestinian Thomson Foundation winners were awarded the top three prizes in the Press Photo Awards: Mahmoud Alian - Al-Quds newspaper, Adel Muhanna - The Associated Press, Ahmed Emad Deeb – Demotix Agency, first and second place in the written media category went to Maha Shahwan – Alrisalah newspaper and Samar Darimli - Sama news agency for their investigations into familial rape and pesticide use in Palestinian agriculture, respectively, and second place for visual journalism went to Wafa news agency correspondent Hamza Hattab.