JT reporter wins cancer foundation award for best investigation

AMMAN — The Jordan Times' Mohammad Ghazal on Sunday was among the winners of the fourth King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) media award dubbed "We fight smoking with pens".

HRH Princess Ghida Talal, chairperson of the board of trustees of KHCF, distributed awards to the winners in the competition, which aims at encouraging journalists to fight smoking through their influence in the society, according to a KHCF statement.

Ghazal, who has been working at the JT for more than 10 years, won the prize for best investigative report for his article "'Burning their lives away': experts warn of alarming rise in number of young smokers", published in April.

Al Ghad's Muna Abu Suboh shared the award with Ghazal.

Other winners include Husna Radio's Asma Raja and Hayat FM's Rana Azem for the best news or radio report category, and Jordan Television's Faisal Basbus won for best TV report.

Ad-Dustour's Kamal Zakarneh and Al Rai's Tala Ayoub shared the award for best news story category, while Ad-Dustour's Ahmad Shakir won for best column.

Moreover, Nisan newspaper's Rafat Khatib and Ro'ya TV's Latif Fitiani shared the award for best cartoon, the statement added.

Princess Ghida also honoured institutions which received a "smoking-free area" certificate, which encourages institutions, companies, restaurants, commercial compounds, hospitals and other facilities to provide a healthy environment.

The princess told attendees that the battle against smoking is full of obstacles, and changing mindsets on the issue requires courage, describing journalists' efforts as "the base" to pave the way for implementing the law.