The B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem announced on March 25 Tamar Ish-Shalom, Israel Rozner, and Eliyahu Birnbaum have been named winners of the 2008 World Center Award for Journalism for excellence in Diaspora reportage. The award is given in memory of Wolf and Hilda Matsdorf.

Since it was established in 1992, the B'nai B'rith World Center Award for Journalism has recognized excellence in reporting on contemporary Diaspora Jewish communities and on the state of Israel-Diaspora relations today in the Israeli print and electronic media. The B'nai B'rith World Center Award is widely acknowledged in the Jewish media as one of the most prestigious journalism prizes in Israel.

The decision committee also awarded a Certificate of Merit to Shmuel Rosner, chief U.S. correspondent for Ha'aretz, a Certificate of Excellence to Ha'aretz education correspondent Or Kashti, and Lifetime Achievement Award to former Ma'ariv founder and Editor-in-Chief Shalom Rosenfeld.

The distinguished award jury includes: Prof. Chana Adoni, director, Communications Department, Jezreel Valley College; Prof. Yehudith Auerbach, director of the Communications and Journalism Studies Division, Bar Ilan University; Shlomo Nakdimon, journalist and columnist; Dan Pattir, political analyst and media advisor to prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin; Asher Weill, publisher and editor of "Ariel," The Israel Review of Arts and Letters (1981-2003); and Prof. Gabriel Weimann, Department of Communications, University of Haifa. Former Tel Aviv University President Professor Itamar Rabinovich serves as president of the award jury.

Ish-Shalom, a television news anchorwoman, and Rozner, editor and director, were named winners in the electronic media category for their seven-part series "American Romance" that was broadcast on channel 10 in Israel in September-October 2007. The project addressed different aspects in the lives of Jewish Americans, focusing on the stories, lives and choices of ordinary members of the Jewish Diaspora community.

The award jury noted in its unanimous decision that it was impressed with the quality of the production, with the precision in filming and editing and with the scope of the topics covered. While the project does not cover all aspects of American Jewry, it does approach it from a fascinating angle. Topics explored include: tikkun olam projects; the dilemmas of expatriate Israelis; the difficulties faced by Jewish singles; the phenomenon of gay synagogues; and the disengagement of young Jews from the state of Israel.

Shalom, 28, has served as the parliamentary correspondent for Army Radio, presenter and editor of Army Radio's main news roundup "24 Hours That Were," and as editor and reporter on channel 10. Since November 2007, she has served as the Europe correspondent for channel 2. Rozner, 37, has served since 2003 as a senior journalist, editor, and director for channel 10 news, before which he worked as an independent director and screenwriter of documentaries.

Birnbaum won the award in the category of print media for a series of articles on small, remote Jewish communities that appeared in his bi-weekly section "World Jewry" in the Shabbat weekend literary supplement of the Hebrew-language weekly "Makor Rishon." The section opens a window for Israeli readers into less-known Jewish communities around the world.

Birnbaum's 13 submitted articles surveyed China's Kaifeng Jews; the "B'nai Moshe" of Peru, descendents of the hidden Jews (Morannos) in Palma de Majorca; the Jewish community of Panama; and the history of the Jews of Recife, Brazil, among others. The jury was impressed with the huge scope of the subjects and noted the successful integration of contemporary and historical information together with personal stories of members of the community. The jury also noted that Birnbaum physically visited all of the communities he wrote about and did not settle for "armchair journalism."

Birnbaum, 47, and a Rabbi, was born in Uruguay and made aliyah in 1972. He studied at Har Zion Yeshiva and received his rabbinical ordination in 1982. He holds a master's degree in Jewish thought from Hebrew University and is writing his Ph.D. in Jewish philosophy at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches on the staff of the Rappoport Center. He was chief rabbi of Uruguay 1992-1997 and since 1988 has served as director of the Straus-Amiel Institution, an arm of Ohr Torah Stone that trains rabbis and spiritual leaders to work in Diaspora communities. Birnbaum also serves as rabbi of Shavei Yisrael, an association that deals with the descendents of the Jewish nation around the world.

In addition to the first prizes, the jury also awarded the following honors: a Certificate of Merit to Rosner for his series of articles entitled "The State of Judaism." In the series, he discussed American Jewry and issues in the community such as assimilation, intermarriage, religious fashions, and demographic changes. The committee gave a Certificate of Excellence to Ha'aretz education correspondent Kashti for three articles that surveyed surprising approaches to Jewish education in the United States and France. Finally, the committee gave a Lifetime Achievement Award to Shalom Rosenfeld, founder and past Editor-in-Chief of Ma'ariv (1974-1980); founding director of the Journalism studies program at Tel Aviv University and Sokolow Prize (1974); and Israel Prize (1986) laureate for journalism. Rosenfeld has been respected by generations of journalists as a role model. He also has a deep interest in Diaspora Jewry, expressed in his founding of the Institute for Research of the Jewish Press at Tel Aviv University.

B'nai B'rith World Center Chairman Dr. Haim V. Katz and Director Alan Schneider said that the World Center views the award as one of the center's most important projects for strengthening Israel-Diaspora relations and were excited to have received so many quality entries.

The Award is made possible through donations from Prof. Daniel Schydlowsky, a member of the B'nai B'rith World Center International Board of Governors (Lima, Peru and Washington D.C.) and the Matsdorf family. The award ceremony will be held in May.