Historic organisation to oversee sporting awards

Mohamed Ebraheem Al Mahmood, Chairman and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Media (left), and Aips president Gianni Merlo sign on the logo for the awards. Guido De Bortoli for The National

1- Historic organisation to oversee sporting awards

PARIS // The International Sports Press Association (Aips) announced the launch of the Sport Media Pearl Awards on Monday in Paris, in an ambitious step to further validate the value of sports journalism.

The awards, which will be hosted by Abu Dhabi Media in December, offer a way to – as Aips president Gianni Merlo put it – “honour the dignity” of the profession.

Aips was founded in 1924 in Paris. At that time, with the re-emergence of the Olympic Games, international sports journalists were coming into contact with one another more.

According to the organisation’s history, these writers were “sharing professional difficulties and struggling in their respective countries to promote the cause of sport, all looking to the future and trying to establish some common ground”.

The creation of Aips aimed to legitimise professional sports journalism as that common ground, to not only encourage higher standards but to also fight to enable its practice.

The purpose of treating sports journalism as a craft worth doing well and worth defending, was at the heart of the association’s foundation and is today also at the heart of the Sport Media Pearl Awards.

“The thing is to give the right example,” said Mr Merlo.

“That with our honesty, with our actions, they can understand that we are there to help with the development of the culture.”

The organisation’s statutes list 10 primary objectives, among them developing “the sporting spirit and solidarity among sports journalists throughout the world”.

To achieve that, one other important statute stands out: “Coordinate and protect the ethical and professional interests” of members and associations.

That applies to large global events such as the Olympics as well as smaller fixtures, such as a domestic football match in any of the far-flung countries where its members work.

“We are discussing the possibility to defend the work in the proper conditions,” said Mr Merlo.

“We give them our opinion and together we always try to find a better solution to empower our profession.”

The Sport Media Pearl Awards, he said, would be about connecting journalists and fostering a dialogue for the preservation and evolution of a profession in the midst of a rapidly changing industry.

“This event will develop a better strategy for the future, because it allows us to see how differently our colleagues are working around the world, and we are collecting information in the discussions around the awards.

“We can go deep in the subject of our future and I think, in that moment, we will begin, really, a cultural speech about everything.”

Ninety years after it was founded, and at its 78th congress in Paris this week, Aips remains committed to an independent and enabled sporting press, of the highest quality.

The Sport Media Pearl Awards will aim to cement the realisation of these goals.

“Together we can build something new for the culture of sports journalism,” said Mr Merlo.

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2- The judging process:

When Abu Dhabi Media hosts the first annual Sport Media Pearl Awards in December, the occasion will honour journalists and their organisations in six categories, with an additional three categories finishing off the night.

The awards, however, are more than just one night because the ceremony will be a culmination of a months-long search for the best in international sports journalism by the International Sports Press Association, the Paris-based group that will oversee the judging process.

That process, which will begin with entries being submitted to the awards website in the weeks and months to come and conclude on September 30, will be primarily handled by a panel of 10 sports journalism professionals with ties to Aips and an 11th “ambassador of sport”.

The ambassador could be an athlete or some other form of sporting dignitary, while the 10 professionals, including the president of the jury, will be drawn from the more than 10,000 international Aips representatives in more than 160 countries. These panel members will be nominated by Aips president Gianni Merlo.

The first task, from the thousands of entries anticipated – which will be judged in English but can be submitted and translated from any language – will be for the Aips executive committee to trim down submissions to a shortlist of 10.

From that shortlist, the jury will meet in Abu Dhabi and select three finalists to come to the UAE for a two-day conference on sports media and the December awards ceremony.

The jury will then independently select the first-place US$10,000 (Dh36,730) prize winner and second and third-place $1,500 prizes.

The three special award winners will also be selected by the jury.

For more on the Sport Media Pearl Awards click here.