For the second time in less than a year, L'Orient-Le Jour has been honored in France with one of the highest distinctions. After the Albert Londres prize, awarded in November 2021 to our reporter Caroline Hayek, L'Orient-Le Jour was awarded the Grande Médaille de la Francophonie by the French Academy on Thursday, June 31, 2022. This is the first time that this award has been given to a media outlet.

"The French Academy wanted to express its admiration for the courage shown every day and for so many years by the team of L'Orient-Le Jour, which maintains high professional and ethical standards in such difficult circumstances; an exemplary approach that the Academy wanted to salute by awarding your newspaper, unanimously, the Grande Médaille de la Francophonie," said Amin Maalouf, member of the Academy since 2011, in a message sent to L'Orient-Le Jour.

The Grande Médaille de la Francophonie has been awarded since 1986 to those who contribute to increasing the reach of the French language in the world. Past winners include the Belgian singer Stromae and the Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud.

This award is one of 23 given Thursday by the French Academy, some to several recipients.

The medal crowns the commitment of all those involved in the L'Orient-Le Jour Group to informing the public, in accordance with the standards of journalism, and to the French-speaking world — a world that carries values for which L'Orient-Le Jour has been fighting for decades. These values include, in particular, the defense of freedom, and above all of freedom of expression; the defense of human rights in general and of women and minorities in particular; the defense of cultural and religious diversity; the defense of the rule of law against all abuses, wherever they may come from; the defense of the principles of openness, tolerance and coexistence against sectarian and narrow confessional policies. And, of course, the promotion of the French language, an integral part of the Lebanese culture, in Lebanon and throughout the world.

This prize is extremely important to all the employees of this newspaper, who work in often difficult conditions.

This prize is also for our readers, our subscribers. They are the key to everything, including our editorial independence.

Today, the Grande Médaille de la Francophonie has given us a precious boost, encouraging us to continue against all odds. The entire L'Orient-Le Jour Group thanks the members of the French Academy for the honor bestowed upon them.