Balkan journalists among European Press Prize 2013 winners

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Svetla Dimitrova 19 March 2014

Every year, the European Press Prize salutes and encourages the highest achievements in European journalism. Two journalists from the Balkans among the winners of 2013 edition

Two Balkan journalists - Boris Dežulović of Croatia and Yavuz Baydar of Turkey – were among the ten European Press Prize (EPP) 2013 winners presented at a ceremony in London on March 17th. An award programme for excellence in journalism covering all 47 member countries of the Council of Europe, the EPP is Europe's equivalent of the Pulitzer prizes in the United States.

Dežulović received "The Commentator Award" for his article, "Vukovar: a Life-Size Monument to the Dead City," published by Croatia's Globus weekly. He also writes for a number of other media across the region, including Jutarnji list in Croatia, Oslobođenje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dnevnik in Slovenia.

Yavuz Baydar was one of the three winners of "The Special Award," which was given to him for his work as news ombudsman for Turkey's Sabah daily. His columns were censored and he was eventually fired from the paper. Baydar, who is currently a political columnist with Istanbul-based daily Today's Zaman, is one of the founders of the Platform for Independent Journalism (P24) and a TV programme host at Turkey's Channel 24.

"The award is a symbol of support for his fight for free press," the official announcement read.

The other two winners of "The Special Award" were editors Alan Rusbridger of British daily the Guardian and Wolfgang Buchner of Germany's Der Spiegel "for their persistence and courage in publishing the NSA stories".

"The Investigative Reporting Award" went to Steve Stecklow, Babak Dehghanpisheh and Yeganeh Torbati for "Assets of the Ayatollah", published by Reuters, UK. Russian journalist Sergey Khazov received "The Distinguished Writing Award" for his articles "Forbidden Islam," "Vietnam town" and "A Man in Orange," published by Russia's The New Times magazine. Espen Sandli and Linn Kongsli Hillestad were given "The Innovation Award" for their "Null CTRL," published by Dagbladet, Norway.

The EPP initiative was launched in 2012 by seven European media foundations.

Link: EPP

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project's page: Safety Net for European Journalists.A Transnational Support Network for Media Freedom in Italy and South-east Europe.