Written by Shuhan Zhang
To cap off the first day of the International Press Institute’s 2016 World Congress in Doha, Qatar, IPI honored Ahmad Zeidabadi, an Iranian journalist, as its 68th World Press Freedom Hero, and the independent Turkish news platform Medyascope.tv as its 2016 Free Media Pioneer.
Both awards were presented during the annual gala dinner in the Shangri-La Hotel this Saturday in partnership with the Copenhagen-based International Media Support.
The IPI Free Media Pioneer Award was first established in 1996, and has since been given in recognition of the efforts of media organizations around the world that have improved press freedom and media independence in their home regions. This year, the award went to Medyascope.tv, an alternative online media organization based in Turkey.
Established in 2015 by Rusen Çakır, a veteran Turkish journalist, Medyascope.tv utilizes Periscope, a video-streaming app available on iOS and Android, to deliver uncensored journalistic audiovisual content covering to audiences. Subjects ranging from national politics, economy, sports news, and cultural interests are all covered by the Medyascope.tv website.
IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said that IPI was proud to see media organizations apply latest technology to expand the transparency of the media landscape in different regions.
“Since its launching, Medyascope has grown in popularity as an independent, alternative source of news to mainstream Turkish media, which has come under increasing and widespread government pressure,” she said during the award ceremony.
Çakır also delivered remarks at the gala dinner. According to him, journalists in Turkey need to survive first, but their journalistic aspiration and determination must also persevere.
“Yes, perhaps there is indeed plenty to be pessimistic and hopeless about, but we do lean on each other and try to keep our hope alive in this journey towards creating something good and greater than ourselves. Besides, trying new things always beats sitting in a corner behind the tired cliché, ‘journalism is dead.’”
The IPI World Press Freedom Hero award honors aspiring journalists who made significant contribution to the promotion of press freedom, particularly at great personal risk. This year’s winner, Zeidabadi, is an Iranian journalist, political analyst, and human rights defender. He was on the frontline of the battle for freedom of expression, democracy and media transparency in Iran despite long-term government-imposed persecution.
Zeidabadi was not able to attend the award ceremony due to life-long travel bans Iran imposed on him in 2009, and Morten Østervang, program manager at IMS, delivered remarks on Zeidabadi’s behalf at the gala dinner.
Zeidabadi was detained and interrogated in 2000, and after his imprisonment he said he tried to avoid using sensitive language and only reported from a neutral point of view to ensure his personal security. However, in 2009, Zeidabadi was arrested again in front his house. According to Zeidabadi, his arrest was related to his coverage of the country’s presidential elections, as part of a larger government plan to suppress post-election protests. He refused to “confess” in court, but the interrogators still brought two accusations against him. He said practicing journalism in Iran is often described as “walking in a minefield”, but he felt it was worse than that.
“A minefield has its own logic and rules, and one can avoid stepping on a mine if one is clever enough to use a map and avoid the mines. Journalism in Iran has no official regulation and discipline,” he said.
Commenting on his recognition as a Press Freedom Hero, in the remarks read out by Østervang, Zeidabadi stated, “this gives you hope that one day you will again be able to write; because our world is sailing faster than ever through its history.”
Østervang also saluted Zeidabadi for his personal sacrifice and resilience. “(His) courage and professional dedication to the work for independent journalism and press freedom in Iran is an inspiration to us all.”
At the award ceremony, more than 300 leading journalists from the world demonstrated support for Zeidabadi by holding up his pictures and posters with the hashtags “FreeIransMedia” and “JournalismIsNotACrime”.
