A Syrian journalist who lives and works in the war-scarred city of Aleppo has been awarded the Reporters without Borders Prize in France for her defense of press freedom.
The Paris-based media rights group singled out Zaina Erhaim for her “determination and courage” in covering the conflict in Syria, which is deemed the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, AFP reported.
Over the past two years Erhaim has trained around a hundred print and television journalists, a third of them women. Her efforts have led to the emergence of a number of independent newspapers and magazines.
Her uncle accepted the prize on her behalf at a ceremony in the French city of Strasbourg yesterday.
Reporters without Borders (RSF) also honored Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, which won the watchdog’s Media of the Year prize for its “independent and courageous journalism”.
RSF’s Citizen Journalist of the Year award went to Zone 9, an Ethiopian bloggers’ collective that regularly denounces rights abuses in the East African country.
