GIPA, EJC Announce Friedman Prizes
The 4th annual GIPA-Friedman Prizes to honor excellence in journalism in the Georgia were awarded on June 9 in Tbilisi.
The GIPA-Friedman Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism (TV Project ) went to Nino Zuriashvili from Studio Monitor a story on how tuberculosis patients who were declared terminal in Georgia were cured in France..
The GIPA-Friedman Prize for Excellence in Journalism (Print Project) went to Nato Gogelia from the regional multi-media outlet Guria News for stories about corruption in spending government money to repair kindergartens. After the stories, a government investigation began.
The GIPA-Friedman Prize for the Best Investigative Interview went to Giorgi Mgeladze from Studio Monitor for a story on nepotism and decreases in revenue at the government-owned Georgian Post Office.
The GIPA-Friedman Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism (Print Project) went to Gela Mtivlishvili from the regional Kakheti Information Center for series of reports on ISIS connections in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge.
A special silver prize award was given to Nino Zautashvili, host of the Public Broadcasting program “Realuri Sivrtse” for in-depth coverage of the Georgia government's decision to allow excavation at the Sakdrisi gold mine in an area that archaeologists said should be protected.
The GIPA-Friedman Certificate For Excellence in Investigative Journalism went to Nino Bakradze of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) for her investigation of the the mysterious murder of a park ranger.
The GIPA-Friedman Certificate For Excellence in Investigative Journalism for a TV Project went to Jaba Ananidze, founder of the investigative studio “Rec”, for analyzing why cultural heritages have not become a source of economic capital for Georgia.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Josh Friedman and distinguished Georgian journalists who served as jury members awarded the prizes at the event, held at the Radisson Blue Iveria.
The jury examined approximately 80 stories for investigative professionalism, research, innovation, societal impact and ethics.
The European Journalism Centre (EJC) and the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) established the GIPA-Friedman prize in 2012 to honor excellence in investigative journalism in Georgia. It is part of EJC’s five-year commitment in Georgia as a member of the Press Freedom 2.0 consortium, which includes the Dutch-based civil society organizations Free Press Unlimited and Mensen met een Missie, and is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Friedman Prize award ceremony followed the special launch of Homicide Watch-Georgia, a project to inform the public about homicides -- especially femicide -- by enabling journalists to report on crime trends and distribute the results better.
The project is a collaboration between the GIPA School of Journalism, the JumpStart Georgia data visualization project, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). This project invited Georgian media organizations and journalists, civil society organizations, and the public to inform the society on homicide issues.
Tamta Utiashvili, A GIPAjournalism student, presented a package of student stories on femicide. The stories were developed by the class and spotlights intimate partner and non-intimate partner femicides, honor killings and other forms of homicide.
http://newscafe.ge/homicide/Honor_killing.html
