DR. ERHARD BUSEK - SEEMO 2017 AWARD

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has announced that Romanian journalist Marina Constantinoiu is the winner of the 2017 Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe.

An international SEEMO jury chose Constantinoiu, editor-in-chief of miscareaderezistenta.ro and and former editor-in-chief at Jurnalul National daily in Bucharest, Romania as the winner of the award. Over the last two years, she has published more than 50 articles based on archives of Romanian security services. Constantinoiu and her team have gotten access to the archives of the ex-communist Secret Services of Romania Securitate and East Germany Stasi and have discovered exclusive documents proving killings at the Romanian borders before 1989, where the victims were not just Romanians, but also foreign citizens, especially Germans from the former German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). This research helps that many families understand what happened to family members 28 or more years ago.

For Marina Constantinoiu, the idea was not only to present documented cases to the public, but also to underline that freedom today, and especially the freedom of movement for all those living in the East of Europe, results from many tragic stories. By knowing the truth about the recent past, we will be able to understand our present. A shared past and common memories are connecting people in East Europe.

Only 28 years ago things were totally different and there was no freedom of movement for people in East Europe. Europe faced a silent migration until 1989, which involved millions of people moving, primarily, illegally from East to West Europe in order to find the freedom and a better life. West Europe, but also former Yugoslavia as a socialist country, became a dream for many in Romania, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and ex-USSR.

For the younger generation, it is important to understand what a dictatorship means and how difficult it was to obtain the freedom of movement we enjoy all today to travel without borders, but also everyone must understand that building new borders inside Europe in the past two years is a very negative trend.

The award, which carries a cash prize of €3,000, is scheduled to be presented on 29 November 2017 in Sofia 12.30 at the Hotel Hilton during the annual Commission on Media Policy by Dr. Erhard Busek, president of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, and by Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO secretary general.

Previous winners of the Dr. Erhard Busek-SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe are:

Erol Onderoglu (Turkey), journalist and press freedom worker in Istanbul;

Radomir Licina (Serbia) founder and senior editor daily Danas;

Željka Lekić-Subašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), head of ERNO (Eurovision News Exchange for Southeast Europe) Coordination Office;

Nenad Šebek (Greece/Serbia) executive director of the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe (CDRSEE) in Thessaloniki for 12 years, developing and working on a wide variety of programmes, from the joint history project to the regional television talk show “Vicinities”;

International Academy (Serbia) for the project Media and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities;

Jeta Xharra (Kosovo) director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), as well as a presenter on, and the editor-in-chief of, “Life in Kosovo”;

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

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;

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;

Brankica Stankovic (Serbia), author of the TV program ‘Insajder’, produced by B92 Television, Belgrade, Serbia;

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

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

Brankica Petkovic (Slovenia), Head of the Center for Media Policy, Peace Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia;

Kemal Kurspahic (Bosnia and Herzegovina / USA), editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo-based daily Oslobodjenje during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and author of Prime Time Crime;

Denis Latin (Croatia) author of the TV program ‘Latinica’, Croatian Radio Television (HRT).

For questions and more information please contact info@seemo.org

CALL FOR THE 2017 DR. ERHARD BUSEK SEEMO AWARD FOR
BETTER UNDERSTANDING

Vienna, 10 July 2017.

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), calls for nominations for the 2017 Dr Erhard Busek-SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South, Eastern and Central Europe. Eligible to be nominated are journalists, editors, media executives, media experts, writers or journalism trainers in South, East and Central Europe, who have contributed to promoting better understanding in the region and have worked towards ending minority-related problems, ethnic divisions, racism, xenophobia, gender discrimination, homophobia, etc. The winner will be awarded EUR 3,000.

The award is sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, Jean Monnet 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.

The deadline for applications is 20 September 2017 noon Central European Time. All application materials must be received by the deadline.

Should you wish to nominate a candidate for the 2017 Dr. Erhard BusekSEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South, Eastern and Central Europe,please send the following materials :

1. Letter of nomination with basic details about the candidate and the reasons why you would like to nominate them, in English by email and registered post;

2. Curriculum Vitae of the candidate, in English, by email and registered post;

3. Additional materials: please include a list of the candidate’s merits; information about the media outlet(s) that have published and/or broadcast the candidate’s work; relevant material, including copies of articles, TV, video or radio material on a USB-stick.

Video, audio and print material in local languages should be accompanied by a short synopsis in English. If materials are available online, please send a document that lists the relevant links as supporting material. Additional materials MUST be sent as hard copies by registered post only, not by email.

Unfortunately, additional materials cannot be returned. Please make sure to send copies rather than original material.

4. Your contact information: name; address; cell phone, phone and fax number; email address, by email and registered post;

5. Candidate’s contact information: name, address, phone number and email address,by email and registered post;

6. If you would like to nominate a media outlet, an organisation or an institution, please include details about the person who would accept the award on its behalf, by email and registered post;

7. If your nomination is supported by an organisation or a media outlet, please send us the name, email and phone of a contact person from the institution supporting your nomination and a short supporting letter, by email and registered post;

8. If your nomination is supported by an individual or individuals, please send us their details, contact information (email, phone) and a short supporting letter, by email and registered post.

Materials listed in points 1, 2 and 4-8 should be sent by both email to info@seemo.org, and by registered post to the SEEMO office in Vienna, Austria. Documents and materials under point 3 should be sent ONLY by registered post to the SEEMO office in Vienna, Austria:

For BUSEK AWARD South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) (IPI office) Spiegelgasse 2 / 29 1010 Vienna Austria

The candidates must come from, work in or cover the following geographic area (SEEMO region): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia (Republic of Macedonia / FYROM), Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

The winner will be chosen by an international jury composed of distinguished journalists and media experts. Members of the jury cannot be nominated for the award.

An official press release in November 2017 will announce the winner.

The award will be presented on 29 November 2017 in Sofia, Bulgaria by Dr. Erhard Busek during the annual meeting of the Commission on Media Policy. The winner will be invited to the presentation. Travel expenses of the winner will be covered by SEEMO.

Previous winners of the Dr. Erhard Busek-SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe are:

Erol Onderoglu, journalist and press freedom worker, Istanbul, Turkey

Radomir Licina (Serbia) founder and senior editor daily Danas;

Željka Lekić-Subašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), head of ERNO (Eurovision News Exchange for Southeast Europe) Coordination Office;

Nenad Šebek (Greece) executive director of the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe (CDRSEE) in Thessaloniki for 12 years, developing and working on a wide variety of programmes, from the joint history project to the regional television talk show “Vicinities”;