L’Orient-Le Jour wins a Migration Media Award first prize

Commenting on theMigration Media Award (a journalism competition funded by the European Union), one of the members of the panel, Aidan White, declared:
"Well-written, powerful and emotional testimony from victims is not enough for journalism to tell stories effectively and ethically. Journalism can be better than that. In order to make a difference, media coverage must play a part in the ongoing search for solutions that offer hope and optimism."

Hope and optimism lie at the very heart of the web documentary

In September 2017, Anne Ilcinkas began to follow the lives of two families of Syrian refugees who had settled in the centre of the Aveyron region in southern France. When the Rajoubs and the Mohammads fled war-torn Syria, they had no choice but to leave their whole lives behind - their family, their friends, their language, their jobs... their entire world.
Through her web documentary, the video-journalist tells the story of a new departure, a fresh start. She does this without playing down the challenges and difficulties they face, but also without glossing over the positives of their move to France. Anne's story also gives us a chance to meet the local residents in this small corner of Occitanie, known as the "Land of One Hundred Valleys". It is, first and foremost, a story of solidarity.

Watch the web documentary produced by the Lebanese media outlet L'Orient-Le Jour as part of the Digital East project.