EU Prize for Journalism Names its 2015 Winners

The European Union has acknowledged six Georgian Journalists for their professional standards and ethics.

On the evening of Wednesday 20 January, the winners of the ‘EU Prize for Journalism 2015’ were revealed in six categories at an award ceremony held in the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia.

The EU Prize for Journalism as well as the EUMM Special Prize for Peace Journalism recognize the works of the written press, TV, Radio and social media that reflect high journalistic standards and contribute to promoting a better understanding of the values of the European Union.

The Prize is to contribute to stimulating the debate about press and media performance by recognizing examples of high quality and unbiased journalism.

The Ambassador of the European Union, Janos Herman, delivered the welcome speech at the award ceremony and emphasized that this year the prize had a record amount of applications.

“This means that directions and the issue of human rights, investigations, minorities and conflicts are becoming popular among Georgian journalists. Journalism plays an essential role in upholding the values of democratic societies. Improving professional standards and respecting ethic principles in this profession is therefore in the interest of all of us and can contribute to bringing Georgia closer to the European Union,” the Ambassador of the European Union said at the award ceremony.

Five awards were handed out in following categories:

Winner of the Best Investigative Story in print or online media was Zurab Vardiashvili for the story "Children of Poverty" published in the Liberal magazine.

The Best Investigative TV and/or Radio Coverage award was handed to Lia Toklikishvili (co-author Maia Gogoladze) for the documentary named “Town of the Gold-Scarified".

The award for the Best Online or Print Blog went to Anuna Bukia for her blog titled “The diary of a cancer patient”.

The most Informative Online Media award was taken by newly established website www.chai-khana.org, which came in ahead of two other finalists ipn.ge and iset-pi.ge

The Best Documentary Photo Reflecting EU Values was awarded to Daro Sulakauri for her documentary photo "Early Marriages".

The winners of each category will be awarded a share of 7,500 EUR.

Within the framework of the EU Prize for Journalism 2015, the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) awarded the Special Prize for Peace Journalism, which recognizes reporting that promotes a peaceful solution on both sides of the conflict divide, acknowledging journalists who promote peace and social justice over violence, while addressing their audiences.

The EUMM Special Prize for Peace Journalism of this year went to Nino Chipchiuri for the article “The doctors are building bridges of health in the regions".

Her prize is a fellowship allowing her to participate in the Caucasus Program at the headquarters of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in London.

The EU Prize for Journalism was launched in 2012. Every year, the Prize calls for new applications on the 3rd of May – the World Press Day.

Prizes are awarded by a Jury comprising three renowned European journalists, three reputed Georgian journalists or balanced public profiles, and one representative from the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.

GEORGIA TODAY would like to congratulate its colleagues in Georgian media.