The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is calling for nominations for the 2014 Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South, Eastern and Central Europe.

The award, which carries a €3,000 prize, is open to journalists, editors, media executives, media experts, writers and journalism trainers who have contributed to promoting better understanding in the region and who have worked towards ending minority-related problems, ethnic divisions, racism, xenophobia, gender discrimination, homophobia etc.

The deadline to submit a nomination is July 10. All nominations and supporting materials must arrive at SEEMO’s offices by registered letter or by email by the close of business that day.

The Award is sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, a former vice-chancellor of Austria. He is also a Jean Monnet Programme professor ad personam, president of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and former special coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.

Nominees must come from or work in the geographic area covered by SEEMO: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia/FYROM, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The Award is presented only to individuals and self-nominations will not be accepted. If you wish to nominate a media outlet, or an organisation or institution, please identify a specific person as representative of that organisation.

If your nomination is supported by another individual or individuals, please identify that person to SEEMO and provide contact information. If your nomination is supported by an organisation or a media outlet, please identify a contact person from that institution.

To nominate a candidate for the Award, please send SEEMO the following information in English by registered letter or by email:

1. A letter of nomination with basic details about the candidate and the reasons why you propose the specific candidate.

2. The candidate’s Curriculum Vitae.

3. Supporting material: a list of the candidate’s merits, information about the media which published and/or broadcast the candidate’s work; and copies of articles or reports, copies of books published by the journalist, or any other relevant material.

4. Your contact information, including your name, address, telephone number (mobile and land-based) and email address.

5. The candidate’s contact information, including name, address, telephone number (mobile and land-based) and email address.

Please send nomination and supporting materials by registered letter to:

SEEMO/IPI Busek Award 2014

Spiegelgasse 2/29

1010 Vienna, Austria

or by email to info[at]seemo.org.

All TV reports, photos, scanned pages from print media, copies from web pages, or audio reports should be submitted as a file a DVD, CD or USB-stick. If possible, video, audio and print material in local languages should be accompanied by a brief translation into English.

Unfortunately, supporting material cannot be returned. Please be sure to send copies, rather than original material.

The winner will be chosen by an international jury composed of distinguished journalists and media experts. Members of the jury may be nominated for the award.

An official press release will announce the winner and the Award will be presented by Dr. Busek and SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic at a Sept. 23 event in Bucharest, Romania.

Previous winners of the Award are:

2012: Jeta Xharra (Kosovo), Balkan Investigative Reporting Network

2011: Drago Hedl, (Croatia) journalist, Zagreb-based daily Jutarnji List

2010: Omer Karabeg (Bosnia and Herzegovina), journalist, South Slavic and Albanian Language Service program of Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL); founder and editor of the radio program Most (Bridge), Prague, Czech Republic

2009: Boris Bergant (Slovenia), co-founder of the Alpe Adria broadcasting project, former deputy-president of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and former deputy director of Radio Television Slovenia

2008: Brankica Stankovic (Serbia), author of the TV program Insajder, produced by B92 Television, Belgrade

2007: Milena Dimitrova (Bulgaria), columnist, Sofia-based daily Trud

2006: Danko Plevnik (Croatia), columnist, Split-based daily Slobodna Dalmacija

2005: Brankica Petkovic (Slovenia), head of the Center for Media Policy at the Peace Institute, Ljubljana

2003: Kemal Kurspahic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), former editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo-based daily Oslobodjenje

2002: Denis Latin (Croatia) author of the TV program Latinica, Croatian Radio Television (HRT)

For more information, please contact SEEMO by email.