Top ten reporters awarded in annual ceremony

The Independent Journalism Center's Press Club in association with the Committee for Press Freedom held on Tuesday, December 23, the awarding ceremony “Ten Journalists of the Year”, XIV edition, Info-Prim Neo reports. The ten reporters honored for their achievements in 2008 were awarded in five categories: Ion Preasca from the Eco weekly and Irina Codran from the Timpul daily were honored in the print journalism category; Angela Gonta from the PRO TV Chisinau channel and Gabriel Calin from TV7 got the top prize in the television journalism category; Elena Moldoveanu, Radio Free Europe, and Eduard Maceac, Radio Moldova, were distinguished in the radio journalism category; Lina Grau, NewsIn, and Lilia Gurez, Infotag, won in the news agency category; and the top prize for the best local reporter was shared by Ana Butnariuc (Balti), and Ludmila Topal (Basarabeasca). At the ceremony, there were also awarded several special prizes. Mihail Gheorghe Cibotaru, a writer and a publicist, was given a prize in recognition for long service to journalism. The Hope of the Year Prize went to Info-Prim Neo's reporter Eugenia Pogor, and Mariana Rata from Jurnal de Chisinau newspaper. Jurnal TV was awarded the Debut of the Year prize, while Sergei Misin from Economicheskoe Obozrenie was named the Manager of the Year. Radio Vocea Basarabiei was given the Phoenix award in recognition for operating in extreme conditions. The special prize awarded by the Independent Journalism Center for diversity promotion went to Natalia Scurtul from the Tiraspol-based Profsoyuznye Vesty. The selection of the best journalists of the year had three stages. At first, the media institutions in Moldova nominated three candidates for the top award, including a journalist working at the respective institution. Then, candidates were nominated by NGOs, press services, and international organizations. At the final stage, the Council of experts of the Independent Journalism Center named the winners, following a tally of the votes. In nominating candidates, several criteria had to be taken into account: professionalism, observance of journalism ethics and standards, impact on the public opinion, the level of risks taken, objectivity and commitment to the profession. The awarding ceremony “Ten Journalists of the Year” was held with the financial support of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, the UK government's Conflict Prevention Global Pool, and the UN in Moldova.