Al Jazeera English named Broadcaster of the Year at the 2025 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards for 9th year running
The Broadcaster of the Year accolade, considered the premier prize by the organisers, goes to the media organisation providing consistent excellence in covering international issues and a diverse array of themes. This is reflected in the channel's seven gold, nine silver and eight bronze awards for its news and programmes screened during the festival's virtual ceremony on 22 May.
Commenting on the recognition, Issa Ali, Acting Managing Director of Al Jazeera English, stated: "This accolade serves as a profound affirmation from our industry peers of the professionalism and significance of the work we do at Al Jazeera English. Our journalists work tirelessly around the world to inform and empower audiences with in-depth and accurate reporting. This is no easy task, especially given the rising challenges posed by increasing attacks on journalists and media organisations. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all our journalists for their unwavering commitment, particularly our colleagues in Gaza, whose efforts have been crucial in helping the world grasp the realities of the war on Gaza and its devastating effects on civilian populations."
Fault Lines' harrowing and powerful documentary The Night Won't End which looks at the human cost of war won two gold awards in the International Affairs and Investigative Journalism programme categories. This brings the film's international awards tally to six thus far this year.
The Fault Lines' investigative team won another two golds with All that Remains (Human Concerns) and Children of the Darien Gap (Human Rights), which has also won two other international awards.
Al Jazeera English's other gold winners are 101 East's India's Disappearing Mountains (Social Issues), the Dying Earth's series documentary Beyond the Oil Age (Environment and Ecology), and People and Power's Myanmar Army on the Ropes.
In addition, Al Jazeera Digital won a number of awards, showcasing its commitment to outstanding journalism and storytelling. This includes 'True Crime Reports' securing a Gold in the Mystery Podcast category in the Narrative/Documentary Podcast section, two Silver Awards for 'Mexico's Migrant Crackdown – Start Here' in the categories of Streaming Documentary and Documentary: Current Affairs, as well as bronze awards for 'Start Here', 'The Take', and 'Sports Social Justice' coverage. The Al Jazeera Arabic channel was also recognised for its outstanding programmes.
The awards featured entries from over 50 countries, covering content screened on US and international broadcasters, including ITV, BBC, NBC and CBC. All content was screened and judged by the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Grand Jury of over 200 producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe.
For over 60 years, New York Festivals TV & Film Awards have honoured exceptional and innovative content created on all continents and seen across all platforms.
Since launching in 2006, Al Jazeera English has garnered international praise for its impartial and fact-based reporting, winning prestigious awards from journalism's most respected institutions. Today, the Al Jazeera Media Network with 70 bureaus around the world, it reaches more than 440 million households in over 150 countries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Ziad Rahbani, pioneering Lebanese musician and composer, dies at 69
Lebanese musician and composer Ziad Rahbani, son of the iconic singer Fairuz and a pioneer of fusion jazz, has died at the age of 69 of a heart attack. 'On Saturday at 9:00am, the heart of the great artist and creator Ziad Rahbani stopped beating,' said a statement from the hospital where he was being treated in the capital, Beirut, on Saturday. Rahbani influenced generations of Lebanese people with his songs and especially his plays, whose lines are known by heart by both young and old. He was the son of Fairuz, the last living legend of Arabic song – and one of the most famous Arab women worldwide – and composer Assi Rahbani, who, along with his brother Mansour, modernised Arabic song by blending classical Western, Russian, and Latin American pieces with Middle Eastern rhythms. 'I admire the music of composers like Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie,' Rahbani once said. 'But my music is not Western, it's Lebanese, with a different way of expression.' Fairouz also became an icon for young people when Rahbani composed songs for her influenced by jazz rhythms – he called it 'oriental jazz'. Lebanon's leaders paid a heartfelt tribute to the Lebanese composer, who was also a playwright, pianist and political provocateur. President Joseph Aoun called Rahbani 'a living conscience, a voice that rebelled against injustice, and a sincere mirror of the oppressed and marginalised'. 'Lebanon has lost an exceptional and creative artist, a free voice that remained faithful to the values of justice and dignity' and who said 'what many did not dare to say', said Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. Rahbani's works reflected the hybrid heritage of Lebanon, which, until the civil war erupted in 1975, was a cultural melting pot. It also reflected the ensuing sectarian strife, which involved bloody street battles between rival militias and three years of violent Israeli occupation after the 1982 invasion. While Fairuz transcended the powerful sectarian divides in the country, her son chose to be resolutely left-wing and secular, denouncing Lebanon's longstanding divisions. His breakout play, Nazl el-Sourour (Happiness Hotel), premiered in 1974 when he was only 17, portrayed a society disfigured by class inequality and repression. The play follows a group of workers who take over a restaurant to demand their rights, only to be dismissed by the political elite. In another play, Bennesbeh Labokra Chou? (What About Tomorrow?), he plays a jaded bar pianist in post-civil war Beirut. The work features some of Rahbani's most poignant music and biting commentary, including the famous line, 'They say tomorrow will be better, but what about today?' Rahbani was also a composer of staggering range. He infused traditional Arabic melodies with jazz, funk and classical influences, creating a hybrid sound that became instantly recognisable. His live performances were legendary, when he often played piano in smoky clubs in Hamra, one of Beirut's major commercial districts. In recent years, Rahbani appeared less in the public eye, but younger generations rediscovered his plays online and sampled his music in protest movements. He continued to compose and write, speaking often of his frustration with Lebanon's political stagnation and decaying public life. 'I feel like everything is over, I feel like Lebanon has become empty,' wrote Lebanese actress Carmen Lebbos, his former partner, on X. Rahbani is survived by his mother, now 90, his sister Reema and brother Hali.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
With Trump go-ahead, Skydance and Paramount to complete merger in August
The entertainment company Paramount Global is expected to close its $8bn merger agreement with Skydance Media on August 7, a date that marks two weeks after the administration of President Donald Trump gave its approval. On Friday, the two companies announced the final stage of the year-long deal, which was first announced in July 2024. The merger is considered a massive shake-up in the media landscape of the United States, drawing to a close the reign of the powerful Redstone family over the Paramount entertainment empire. But the merger has garnered even more attention in recent weeks for its political backdrop. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave the green light for the merger to go forward, after a series of moves under Paramount that were widely interpreted as concessions to the Trump administration. The FCC is technically an independent agency of the federal government, but since taking office in January for his second term, President Trump has sought to bring such agencies under his influence, including by appointing loyal allies to their leadership. That put the fate of the Paramount-Skydance merger in question, particularly given Trump's combative relationship with CBS Broadcasting Inc, one of Paramount's premier properties. Conflicts over content Trump has long taken an adversarial approach to the news media, and CBS's flagship news programmes were no exception. Some of those tensions came to a head in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election, when Trump, a Republican, was facing off against Democratic contender Kamala Harris. The TV news magazine 60 Minutes had a tradition of interviewing each of the major party nominees for the presidency in the lead-up to the vote, and it had invited both Trump and Harris to participate. Harris accepted the invitation, but 60 Minutes said Trump cancelled. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, disputed that characterisation. 'There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,' Cheung wrote on social media. 'They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.' The back-and-forth escalated when 60 Minutes aired two different cuts from its interview with Harris. One version, which aired on a sister programme Face The Nation, featured more of Harris's answer about her stance towards Israel. The other version, which aired on the 60 Minutes broadcast, was shorter. Trump called the different edits evidence of deceptive reporting tactics and filed a lawsuit against Paramount, CBS's parent company. 'CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,' his court filing alleged. 'That is false,' 60 Minutes responded in a statement to its website. 'When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.' While many media experts expected Paramount to prevail on the merits of the case, the company instead sought to negotiate an end to the case. Earlier this month, it agreed to pay $16m to Trump, to go to his future presidential library. Shortly thereafter, another top CBS show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, revealed it had been cancelled, allegedly for financial reasons. But the timing and unexpected nature of the cancellation drew speculation that it might have been an attempt to appease Trump and streamline the merger, given the fact that Colbert frequently lambasted the Republican president on his show. Trump himself posted on Truth Social, 'I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.' The Late Show was consistently the top-rated late-night comedy show, and it had won a Peabody Award and multiple Emmy nods. South Park TV show takes aim Within weeks of both the 60 Minutes lawsuit settlement and the cancellation of The Late Show, the FCC gave its blessing to the merger between Paramount and Skydance. Under the merger, Skydance founder David Ellison, the son of Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison, is expected to helm operations. Upon the merger's approval, Trump's appointee to lead the FCC, Brendan Carr, released a statement echoing some of the president's criticisms of major news outlets. He also hinted that the merger would result in changes to CBS's news output. 'Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,' he wrote. 'It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcasting network.' 'In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company's programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.' To ensure compliance with that commitment, Carr said an ombudsman would be appointed to the media giant for a period of at least two years. Carr added that the merger between Skydance and Paramount would also bar the new mega-company from implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, which are designed to create an equal playing field for people regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion or ability. But hours after the FCC granted its approval, the Paramount-owned channel Comedy Central aired an episode of the animated series South Park that mocked President Trump and satirised its parent company's $16m settlement. In one scene, an animated Jesus attempts to warn the show's characters about Trump. 'The guy can do whatever he wants now that someone backed down, OK?' the animated Jesus says. 'You guys saw what happened to CBS? Yeah, well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert?' The Trump administration has since blasted the show as irrelevant.
Al Jazeera
6 days ago
- Al Jazeera
The Take: How the gentrification crisis is hitting Mexico City
Mexico City has seen an influx of foreign renters, including those calling themselves digital nomads. This has led to increasing housing prices, displacement of residents, changes to the city's culture – and growing protests. How is Mexico City's fight mirroring a global crisis of gentrification? In this episode: Adrián Acevedo Mansour (@acevedomansour), Mexico City urban planner Episode credits: This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé, Duha Mosaad, and Chloe K Li, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Kisaa Zehra, Marya Khan, Melanie Marich and our guest host, Manuel Rápalo. It was edited by Kylene Kiang. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
