AMMAN / PNN / The French Media Development Agency (CFI), with funding from the French Development Agency (AFD), has concluded the five-year Qarib project with a regional conference and an awards ceremony recognising journalists and independent media organisations from four Arab countries, including Palestine, for outstanding reporting across a range of public interest issues.
The closing conference and awards brought together around 50 journalists from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq to reflect on the project's achievements and discuss opportunities for continued regional cooperation beyond the programme's conclusion.
Participants also attended workshops covering artificial intelligence in journalism, narrative storytelling, climate and environmental reporting, press freedom and collaborative regional media initiatives.
During a session on media freedoms, Monjed Jadou, Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine News Network (PNN), asked participants to observe a minute's silence in memory of Palestinian and Lebanese journalists killed during the war. He said 263 Palestinian journalists and 27 Lebanese journalists had been killed, describing the losses as an unprecedented blow to independent journalism in the region. Jadou outlined the daily challenges facing Palestinian journalists, including movement restrictions at Israeli military checkpoints, attacks by Israeli settlers and the destruction of media infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. He said many news organisations in Gaza continue to operate from temporary tents after their offices were destroyed, while hundreds of journalists have been injured and dozens detained.
Despite the risks, Jadou said Palestinian journalists remain committed to continuing their work and documenting events on the ground, although many now fear openly identifying themselves as journalists amid what he described as international silence over attacks on the Palestinian press.
He also discussed broader challenges affecting media freedom in Palestine, including the political division between the West Bank and Gaza, what he described as bias by major social media platforms against Palestinian content, and restrictions affecting digital publishing. Jadou highlighted PNN's experience operating English-language platforms and pointed to additional pressures from some private-sector advertisers seeking editorial influence, as well as donor funding conditions that many independent media organisations consider politically or professionally restrictive.
A separate panel on sustainability, moderated by Nada Abdel Samad, Editor-in-Chief of Qarib, examined business models for independent media. Abdel Samad said that more than 30 of the programme's 34 participating media organisations identified financial sustainability as their greatest challenge to achieving long-term impact.
The discussion explored funding strategies tailored to the editorial identity and economic model of each organisation. Speakers included Laith Hassoun of Shamaa Youth TV in Palestine, Mohammad Al-Amoush of Sada Podcast in Jordan, Zuhair Dabbas of Manateq Platform in Lebanon and Kholoud Al-Amiri of the Iraqi Platform. Another session focused on artificial intelligence in newsrooms, examining the transition from experimentation to practical newsroom use. Participants reviewed experiences from the Q-AIM programme, implemented in partnership with Financial Times Strategies, and discussed how AI tools can strengthen editorial workflows while presenting challenges related to costs, language limitations and editorial oversight.
Speakers included Tala Al-Sharif of Women of Camera, Azad Othman of Dang Radio, Valentine Nasr of Sila Wasel, Ayman Sharif of Raseef22, Hala Nasreddine of Daraj and Kaid Miari of Kashif.
The panel concluded that artificial intelligence cannot replace journalists but can improve efficiency and content quality when used responsibly by trained professionals with appropriate editorial supervision.
Closing the conference, Henrik Ahrnäs and Nada Abdel Samad reviewed the project's achievements over the past five years, thanking participating journalists and media organisations for contributing to programmes focused on narrative journalism, climate reporting, artificial intelligence training and other initiatives. They expressed hope that similar programmes would continue if future funding becomes available. Awards Ceremony On the second day, CFI hosted the Qarib Awards ceremony in Amman, attended by the French Ambassador to Jordan, the Regional Director of the French Development Agency for the Middle East, representatives of AFD and participating media organisations.
Speakers stressed the importance of maintaining international support for independent journalism across the region.
Henrik Ahrnäs, Director of the Qarib Project, said the initiative would continue through the relationships and journalism it helped create.
"Qarib does not end with the end of its funding," he said. "It is no longer simply a project; it lives on through the thousands of stories produced by dozens of independent media organisations across four Arab countries."
He added that the awards recognised both the quality of the journalism produced and the project's contribution to strengthening independent media. Awards were presented in several categories, including climate and environmental reporting, gender-sensitive coverage of women's rights, socio-economic and local governance reporting, youth journalism by reporters aged 18 to 30, and investigative reporting on corruption affecting marginalised communities. Three awards were presented in each category.
Palestinian journalist Majd Jawad, who received an award for her reporting, said her work documented the experiences of Palestinian women allegedly used as human shields during Israeli military raids.
"This recognition gives a voice to Palestinian women," she said. "I consider it an honour for all Palestinian women."
Iraqi journalist Mohammed Al-Sudani, who won an award for climate reporting, said the recognition demonstrated that independent journalists are being heard and supported without political conditions. His award-winning report focused on environmental protection in Iraq.
CFI described the project as a successful model for supporting independent journalism by enabling media organisations to produce professional reporting on issues that often receive limited coverage in mainstream media across the four participating countries.
Laurent Gabsino, Regional Director of the French Development Agency for the Middle East, said the initiative had provided an important opportunity to strengthen independent media through AFD funding. "The project enabled professional journalists across the region to report independently and professionally on issues that are often overlooked," he said.
Reflecting on the programme's conclusion, PNN Editor-in-Chief Monjed Jadou said that while Qarib had formally ended as a project, the professional partnerships it fostered had evolved into lasting personal and institutional relationships.
"Qarib was never just a project," he said. "It became a bridge connecting independent journalists from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq in a shared mission to serve their communities through independent journalism. It stands as a successful model of genuine international support for independent media without editorial conditions."