Bassem Youssef awarded in New York Festival's World Best TV (Photo: Bassem Youssef's official twitter account
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Bassem Youssef has received a Silver World Medal for his work as a television host at an award ceremony in New York.
“I am happy for winning the best Host award worldwide in the New York Festival’s World Best TV & Films,” Bassem Youssef tweeted.
He is the first Egyptian and Arab TV host to receive an award at the festival.
The heart surgeon, who became a popular TV host after the January 2011 revolution, also tweeted a photo of himself holding the award.
Youssef’s satirical show, El-Bernameg, also received two finalist certificates in the categories of comedy and best technical production team.
Youssef is currently a resident fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.
He has also been a recurring guest on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show where he acts “a Senior Middle East political expert.”
Youssef gained a widespread audience during the one-year-rule of the Muslim Brotherhood by subjecting the Islamists to intense witty criticism.
However, following the ouster of Morsi in July 2013, the 39-year-old suspended his satirical show, which last aired on Saudi-owned channel MBC Misr, after coming under political pressure not to criticise the Post-Morsi government.
A February 2014 poll by Baseera – an independent Egyptian polling agency – showed El-Bernameg garnered approximately 8.3 million viewers inside Egypt.
In December 2013 Bassem Youssef was awarded the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York.
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