United Kingdom: Qatar Airways Honours Journalist Of The Year
By Novell Zwange – London, UNITED KINGDOM – Qatar Airways once again supported the UK-based Foreign Press Association’s prestigious annual awards function in which the airline sponsored the main award of the night – Journalist of the Year.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson speaks onstage at the Qatar Airways sponsored Foreign Press Association Media Awards in London
The lavish gathering of leading UK and international journalists took place at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in central London. Guest speaker Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, addressed the audience in his accustomed hilarious way before the awards were announced.
Qatar Airways, which sponsored the event for the third year running, hosted select media during the night, which attracted more than 400 guests, including Ambassadors, politicians and business leaders to celebrate excellence in television, print, broadcast and web-based journalism.
The awards night, now in its 11th year, was compered by British television and radio personality Sandi Toksvig.
Journalists in 13 categories were honoured at the function, where Mayor Boris Johnson, a former journalist, spoke about issues ranging from new UK immigration rules, local politics and his pride at being in charge of London.
Saeed Kamali Dehghan (second left) and Antony Thomas (second right) of Mentorn and HBO, winners of the Journalist of the Year Award at the Foreign Press Association Awards function held in London. The main award was presented by Qatar Airways Vice-President Europe Paul Johannes, pictured right. With them is compere Sandi Toksvig
Qatar Airways Vice-President Europe Paul Johannes presented the night’s main award – Journalist of the Year – to two deserving winners, Antony Thomas and Saeed Kamali Dehghan, for their moving television feature documentary For Neda, made for HBO by Mentorn Productions. The documentary investigates the truth about a young Iranian woman, Neda, shot by a sniper, who became the symbol of mass protest against elections in Iran.
Earlier in the evening, the two film makers won the award for TV Feature Documentary of the Year.
Johannes also congratulated the duo presenting them with a pair of round-trip Business Class tickets between the UK and Doha, Qatar Airways’ hub in the State of Qatar.
