Brankica Stanković has been awarded for her professional achievements and major commitment to investigative reporting amid very difficult personal conditions. Born in 1975 in Belgrade, Stanković has worked as a journalist for TV B92 and an editor of the programme Insajder since 2004. She has investigated and produced many stories tackling issues related to recent socioeconomic and political developments in Serbia, disclosing criminal activity, corruption, and links among the mafia, politics and business. She has been under police protection since Dec. 2009 after receiving numerous death threats.

In spite of these circumstances, Stanković has continued her engagement with investigative reporting, remaining in pursuit of the truth about power and corruption in Serbia. In 2013, TV B92 published Stanković’s autobiography, entitled Insajder, moja priča (“Insider: My Story”). Currently, Stanković is also involved in training and education activities in which she shares her knowledge and personal experience.

Sadeta Fišić, Jovana Kljajić and Maida Salkanović, all from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, have been awarded for their joint investigative story “A Dear Cost of Having Roof Over Your Head”. The jury considered that the three young reporters had dealt with a sensitive and problematic subject – the mistreatment of children in foster families – with courage and accuracy, and had applied strong investigative and research skills.

The publication of the story made waves and the reporters received threats. Nevertheless, they decided to continue their investigation and are currently working on a follow-up.

Sadeta Fišić was born in 1988 in Konjic, Jovana Kljajić in 1991 in Mrkonjić Grad and Maida Salkanović in 1991 in Tuzla.

Stanković and the team of CIN journalists will receive their awards offered by the CEI (€4,000 and €1,000, respectively) during the 2014 South East Europe Media Forum (SEEMF), to be held in Skopje, Macedonia Oct. 16-17 under the title: “Media in South East Europe: Not enough or too much information?”.

A Special Mention has been assigned to the Ukrainian reporter Anna Babinets, coordinator and journalist for the investigative journalist agency Slidstvo.Info, known for its coverage of corruption in Ukraine. Babinets reported from the frontline on the EuroMaidan protests in Kiev. In the appreciation of the jury, her work was remarkable for the courage she showed during some of the most violent protests.

38 nominations from 14 countries were submitted for this year’s award, confirming the award’s relevance and impact region-wide.

The applications were examined by the three organising institutions, with overall coordination led by Oliver Vujović (SEEMO), Barbara Fabro (CEI) and Christian Spahr (KAS Media Program South East Europe) with expert advice from jury members and investigative reporters Besar Likmeta (Albania), Saša Leković (Croatia) and Adrian Mogos (Romania).

CONTACT:

Central European Initiative (CEI)

E-Mail: press[at]cei.int , Web: www.cei.int 

KAS Media Program South East Europe

E-Mail: media.europe[at]kas.de, Web: www.kas.de/medien-europa

South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

E-Mail: basis[at]seemo.org, Web: www.seemo.org 

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