MEB launches its broadcasting Awards
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 The Middle East Broadcasters’ Awards, the first of their kind in the Arab World, were launched on May 15 in a press conference attended by media representatives and over 200 broadcast professionals.
The Awards, covering 33 categories, will rely on a two-stage selection process that will involve close to 2,000 MEB Association members from across the Arab World.
Nearly 40 members of the jury attended the press conference, among them Syrian actor Jamal Suleiman, who described the Awards as a “potential turning point” in the history of television in the region. “When the organizers of the Awards told me about their project, I was happy and honored to commit myself as a jury member because I believe it will raise the standards of broadcasting in our part of the world.”
Jury members, numbering 104, include broadcasting professionals – among them directors Mohamad Khan, Khairi Bishara, Tony Abou Elias and television celebrities Hala Serhan of Rotana TV, Giselle Khoury of Al Arabyia, and Egyptian actor Nour El Sharif, among others.
The first stage of selection, the identification of five nominees in each category, will be the responsibility of the jury, explained Ramez Maluf, MEB Journal editor and Awards coordinator. “After the nominations are announced in December, close to 2,000 MEB Association members will vote in their respective categories to choose the winners.” The voting will be monitored by an international auditing firm, with each MEB Association member allowed one vote. The results will be announced on stage on March 21, 2007 in a live broadcast.
The selection process, articulated below in brief, was premised on the need to include a large number of professionals in the decision making, as is the norm in the more prestigious international awards, such as the Emmys and the Oscars, said Maluf. MEB also secured the assistance of jury members to help develop the selection process at every stage.
Lebanese actress Rula Hamadeh commented on the jury participation. “What you heard today,” she told press conference attendees, “is the result of a series of long meetings, where we spent hours discussing every detail, so that we could make sure the Awards were credible, and that those who win will be those who really deserve to be recognized.” 
Maluf pointed out that the selection process will be such that “just to be nominated, will in itself be very significant, since nominations themselves will be by the recognition of a select jury.” Although jurors are expected to nominate five entries in each category, they will have the prerogative to lower that number to four, if necessary.
Arab production and broadcasting have evolved by leaps and bounds in the last ten years, said Maluf, adding that it was “time that appreciation of those achievements be recognized through an awards ceremony that is credible, transparent and universally recognized.”
The Mebbys, the gold-plated statuettes that will be presented to the winners of the Awards, were designed by R.S. Owen, the same company that designed the Oscar and the Emmy awards.
The main deadlines:
•The Awards will cover the period from April 2005 to March 31, 2006. •All entries must be received by MEB by September 30, 2006. •Jury members designate nominations by December 1, 2006. •Nominations are announced on December 9, 2006 •MEB Association members vote between December 10, 2006 and March 10, 2007. •Winners are announced on March 21, 2007.
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