EU Prize for Journalism 2014 winners revealed tonight

Journalists, bloggers and media representatives will gather in central Tbilisi this evening at the European Union (EU) Prize for Journalism 2014 awards ceremony, honouring Georgian media industry experts for their professionalism and conflict-sensitive journalistic work.

A delegation from the EU and the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) will announce the winners of the EU Prize for Journalism 2014 at a ceremony tonight at Rustaveli Theatre. There are four award categories; best investigative or opinion article in print or online media, best investigative or opinion TV and Radio report, best social media profile/blog or blog-post, and the most informative news agency or online newspaper. In addition, the EUMM Prize for Peace Journalism will also be awarded.

Agenda.ge is one of five online news agencies to be nominated for the EU Prize for Journalism 2014 award in the most informative news agency or online newspaper category.

In total 72 journalistic pieces published from October 1, 2013 to October 30, 2014 are in the running for one of the four 2014 awards.

Furthermore, Agenda.ge was also nominated for its exclusive, thought-provoking blog about how Georgian soldiers spent New Year 2014 in Afghanistan. The blog was written by Georgian NCO Koba Oshkhereli, who was involved in the International Assistance Security Force Mission in Afghanistan. His blog was nominated for the EUMM Prize for Peace Journalism.

The EUMM Prize for Peace Journalism aimed to stimulate high-quality journalism that contributes to confidence-building and peace. Peace journalism focuses on what brings people together rather than what divides them. It portrays events against a wider background rather than in isolation, event organisers said.

The awards ceremony and gala concert will include a performance by top Italian violinists Anna Tifu, accompanied Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gianluca Marciano.

The EU Prize for Journalism launched two years ago and is the first of its kind in Georgia to acknowledge the work of Georgian journalists who have demonstrated journalistic integrity and professionalism. The event was dedicated to mark World Press Freedom Day - an international day proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993.