One hundred and six works were submitted within journalist competition “National Award “MEDIA etc.”. There were participants from almost all regions of Ukraine, most of them from Vinnytsia and Rivne regions, said competition organizers and jury members during the awarding ceremony at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Each fourth work is very good and would be awarded if there were more nominations. We tried to award at least 20 works, and it was really difficult to select the winners,” said jury member Andriy Blinov, director of economic programs at “Radio Vesti”.
Andriy Kulykov, head of “Hromadske Radio” Board reminded that the competition was founded by two NGOs, “Institute of Tax Reforms” and “Hromadske Radio” with the aim to encourage economic journalists. “This competition is not supported by political parties. Everyone who participated did it by their own will,” noted Olena Khotenko, head of the Council at “Institute of Tax Reforms”.
Winners
There were eight nominations within the competition. The works were analyzed by 11 experts and four jury members. The main evaluation criteria were up-to-date issue, creativity and compliance with journalism standards.
The prize “Journalist initiative” was awarded to Maryna Ansiforova (programs “Nashi Hroshi”, “Dosudylysya”, “A one million gift for a judge” etc.), Tetyana Volkova, journalist of “Pavlograd.dp.ua” (“Market economy or what’s the cost of trade on Pavlograd markets”), Vladyslav Krasinskyi from “Realist online” with his article “Vidrodzhennya” and Onyschenko: what NABU conceals about the “gas case” and Sergiy Syvolap from Kyiv State Regional Broadcasting Company with his program (“Svoya ferma” (“My farm”).
Iryna Pavliuk from TV channel “ZIK” won the prize in the nomination “Debut of the year in economic journalism” with her coverage “Lysty u potoybichia” within the program “Brat za brata”.
The prize for best video coverage on the national level was awarded to Sergiy Bratishko from TV channel “ZIK” for his coverage “Chasing the ghosts of Housing & Communal Services”. He also received special award from “Radio Vesti”, Andriy Blinov invited him as a guest to his program “Point of view”. Vsevolod Nekrasov from “Economichna Pravda” and Oleksandr Yaroschuk from “Agropolit.com” shared the national prize for best article (articles “EUR 22 Tax Limit for parcels: death to shadow market or death to competition” and “UAH 600 million stake or Will Ukraine escape from wood exports trap”).
The prize for the best video coverage in regional media was awarded to Oksana Vysochanska from “ZIK” TV channel (“Gutsul Cheese. In search of European markets”). The prize for the best article in regional media was awarded to Mariya Havryliuk from online newspaper “KURS.if.ua” (“Future of industrial zones: When industrial parks will start their work in Prykarpattya” [historical name of lands close to Carpathian mountains, mainly in Ivano-Frankivsk region – transl.note].
“I would like to encourage journalists from regional media to write less about issues of the national level but pay more attention to positive transformations at the local level. […] A number of your works show the processes that otherwise wouldn’t have been noticed here in Kyiv. It is important to write not only about urgent problems, but also about things that change for better. These success stories would inspire not only your local audience but the whole country,” said Borys Kushniruk, expert in economics and finance.
The jury did not select winners in nominations “National prize for best radio coverage” and “Journalist prize for best radio coverage in regional media” as there were only three works submitted within these nominations. However, all of them received special awards and prizes for their participation.
Several works from Vinnytsia and Rivne regions received special awards. “These works were not selected as winners in nominations, but organizers and the jury made a very positive comment about them,” Olena Khotenko noted. In particular, these are works of Inna Omelyanchuk form “Rivnensky Cooperator” newspaper and “Challenges for small businesses” by Svitlana Semashko from Vinnytsia Regional Direction of the National Broadcasting Company.
The organizers mentioned that each winner will receive financial award (UAH 7 thousand for the national prize and UAH 4 thousand for the regional media prize). The appropriate taxes will be paid by the “Institute of Tax Reforms”, so the journalists will receive the full amount. In addition, “Hromadske Radio” offered their own present for all participants. This is the book “Against Violence” addressing the problem of violence in the family.
High quality journalism makes reforms understandable for the society
Competition will be held again next year and will encompass a wider range of issues, the organizers say. “It is a very useful and up-to-date initiative. There is a lot of transformation that influences the life of everyone. Unfortunately, this information is often spread by the media without any explanations, while we would like to see an in-depth analysis,” noted Olga Germanova, press officer of the Parliamentary Committee on Tax & Customs Policies.
“Public opinion about reforms depends on your understanding of the reforms, as well as experts, economists and NGOs awareness about this public opinion depends on you as well. You are a linking elements without which successful reforms are not possible,” stressed Olena Khotenko.