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II SEEMO HUMAN RIGHTS PHOTO AWARD 2009

May 25, 2009 • SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award 2009 • disabled comments

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), in cooperation with the BETA News Agency in Belgrade, Serbia, is pleased to announce the winner of the 2nd SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award 2009. The jury has chosen the photograph titled, Sudbina (Destiny), by Nebojsa Radosavljevic-Raus, a freelance photographer from Kragujevac, Serbia. The winning photograph was chosen by the jury from 501 photographs sent in by 118 photographers from 14 South East European countries because of its symbolic context; the photograph shows the destiny of animals that are being slaughtered for human consumption and where only one animal manages to escape. In real life, other people often decide the destiny of others and sometimes only luck prevents people from dying without the possibility of deciding their own destiny.

Nebojsa Radosavljevic-Raus was born on 19 April 1960 in Kragujevac, Serbia, and has been working as a professional photographer since 1982. His first photographs were published in the former Yugoslavian student magazines Pogledi and NON. During his career, Raus worked with various well known newspapers throughout former Yugoslavia and the daily Eleftherotypia in Athens, Greece. He is currently working with the Associated Press Agency and the Serbian daily newspaper Blic. He is the author of the book Dogadjanja naroda 1988-2000. Raus has received various awards for his photographs, including the YU PRESS PHOTO in the category people in the news.

In addition to the 2nd SEEMO Award for the Best Human Rights Photograph, Sudbina (Destiny) received the second price in the BETA Photograph of the Year 2009 Contest. The first prize for BETA Photograph of the Year 2009 goes to Bela Szandelszky, AP photographer from Hungary, for the photograph titled Georgia 02. The third prize and a special ERSTE award for the funniest photograph go to Srecko Niketic, CROPIX photographer in Croatia, for the photo Poplava (Flood). A special Telekom Award for the best sports photo goes to Paun Paunovic, CROPIX photographer, Croatia, for the photo Hrvatska-Nizozemska (Croatia-Netherlands).
For the second time, SEEMO is presenting the SEEMO Award for the Best Human Rights Photograph as part of the BETA Photograph of the Year Contest. The first winner of the SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award in 2008 was Maja Zlatevska (Dnevnik, Skopje) for the photograph Zatvor (Prison) and her contribution to the human rights struggle in the region. In 2008, SEEMO also issued a Certificate of Distinction to Marko Djurica (Blic/Reuters) for his photograph Liturgija (Liturgy).

This year’s SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award will be presented during a ceremony held today, 22 May 2009, at 17:00, at New Moments Gallery, Hilendarska ulica in Belgrade, Serbia, by Milorad Ivanovic, Deputy Editor in Chief, Blic Daily, Radomir Licina, President of the SEEMO Board, and Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General.

Call for Entries: II SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award

For the second time, SEEMO will present the annual SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award. The competition for the SEEMO award is part of the 6th annual BETA Photograph of the Year competition, organised by the BETA News Agency.
BETA has announced its competition for the best newspaper photograph. All professional photographers working for print media in South East Europe, including daily newspapers, local and other papers, magazines, periodicals, news agencies and Internet publications, can participate in the competition, regardless of whether they are full-time or part-time employees, or freelancers. Photographs taken during 2008 and before the application deadline in 2009 may be submitted. The competition will be open until 19 April 2009.

The prizes are EUR 1,000 for first place, EUR 750 for second place, and EUR 500 for third place. Special awards will also be given. As in 2008, SEEMO will award a prize for the best human rights-related photograph shot in South East Europe. Photographs taken during 2008 and before the 2009 application deadline may be submitted

An exhibition of the winning photographs and selected works will open at the New Moment Gallery in Belgrade in the second half of May 2009. The winners will receive their prizes on the first day of the exhibition.

An exhibition catalogue produced by BETA will include all photographs selected by a special jury for the show. All submitted photographs, as well as pictures of the award winners and the official presentation of the prizes, will be posted on a BETA website dedicated to the competition. The photographs selected for the SEEMO award, including the winning photograph, will be presented on the SEEMO Website and in the SEEMO South East and Central Europe Media Handbook and the SEEMO Magazine De Scripto.

The competition’s terms and conditions, as well as application forms, are available on the BETA News Agency’s Website: www.beta.co.rs/fotokonkurs . Each applicant may submit up to five photographs, in 300dpi resolution and JPEG format (no larger than 3MB). Each photograph should include the full name of the author, the title of the event shot, its location, and the date it was taken. Applicants should e-mail their work and application forms to: betafotokonkurs@gmail.com All additional information about the competition can be obtained by writing to the following address: fotokonkursinfo@gmail.com or info@seemo.org

The panel of judges will consist of Vjekoslav Skledar (Cropix, Zagreb) as chairman, Zoran Jovanovic (Vecernje Novosti), Andrej Isakovic (Alo), Aleksandar Andjic (Vreme), and Nenad Petrovic (BETA). A special SEEMO jury of three members will select the winner of the SEEMO prize.

The BETA Photograph of the Year competition was launched in 2004, the 10th anniversary of BETA’s founding. As part of this competition, SEEMO has, since 2008, presented the SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award. The first winner of the SEEMO award in 2008 was Maja Zlatevska (Dnevnik, Skopje) for the photograph “Zatvor” (“Prison”) and her contribution to the human rights struggle in the region. In 2008, SEEMO also issued a Certificate of Distinction to Marko Djurica (Blic/Reuters) for his photograph “Liturgija” (“Lithurgy”).

SEEMO Human Rights Award 2009 to Pavol Demes (Pavol Demeš), director of German Marshall Fund in Slovakia and former Slovakian foreign minister

May 25, 2009 • SEEMO Human Rights 2009 • disabled comments

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press institute (IPI), is pleased to announce that after careful deliberation the SEEMO Board has awarded the ”SEEMO Human Rights Award 2009” to Pavol Demes, an internationally recognised NGO leader and the director of the Bratislava, Slovakia office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).

Demes has been the GMF’s Director for Central and Eastern Europe since January 2000. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of the Slovak Academic Information Agency-Service Centre for the Third Sector, a leading NGO in the country. He also served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Slovak Republic (1993-97), and was the Slovak Minister of International Relations from 1991-92.

In the late 1990s, Demes served as the elected spokesperson of the Gremium of the Third Sector, a volunteer advocacy coalition in Slovakia. He has also served on the boards of national and international associations and foundations.

Demes has had a long time interest in South East and Central Europe. He has visited all the countries in the region numerous times, in particular during the last decade, and has promoted the Balkan region through speeches, articles and photographs at various international forums. He has contributed significantly toward democratic reform, civil society development, and the integration of the entire South East and Central European region into European and transatlantic structures.

In 1999, Demes was awarded a six-month public policy research fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. A graduate of Charles University in Prague (1980), he was a bio-medical researcher at Comenius University in Bratislava prior to the November 1989 ” Velvet Revolution.”

Demes received the EU-US Democracy and Civil Society Award (1998), the USAID Democracy and Governance Award (1999), the Order of Orange Nassau (2005), and the Yugoslav Star of First Class (2005).

The ”SEEMO Human Rights Award” is an annual award dedicated to International Human Rights Day on 10 December. SEEMO has been presenting the Award since 2002.
In the year 2002, Christine von Kohl (died 2009), editor-in-chief of the Vienna-based Balkan – ” Südosteuropäischer Dialog ” magazine, received the award. In 2003, the recipient was Nebojsa Popov, founder of the Belgrade-based magazine ”Republika”. Fatos Lubonja, an Albanian author, received the award in 2004. Abdulhalim Dede, a journalist and member of the Turkish-Muslim minority living and working in Western Thrace, Greece, was the 2006 recipient. Seki Radoncic, author of the book, ” The Fatal Freedom, ” and active in investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, received the award in 2007. The award winner in 2008 was Spomenka Hribar, a Slovenian journalist, writer and human rights advocate.

The SEEMO Human Rights Award 2009 will be presented to Pavol Demes on Thursday, 10 December 2009, at 17:00, by SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic, Diana Strofova, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, and Pavol Mudry, Board Member of SITA News Agency and a SEEMO Board Member, at the premises of the Slovak Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Palugay Palace, Hloboka cesta 2, Bratislava 37, Slovakia.

Presentation of the Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award for Better Understanding 2009

May 25, 2009 • Busek Award 2009 • disabled comments

Presentation of the Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award for Better Understanding 2009 to Boris Bergant (Vienna, 16 October 2009): Oliver Vujovic, Boris Bergant, Erhard Busek. Photo by: Mirjana Zivanovic and Slobodan Polic, SEEMO Photo, Video and Monitoring Team

Speech by Boris Bergant :

“Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen

Technology has brought us the auto cue, which is nowadays not only reserved to people making television but increasingly used by statesmen. The purpose of auto cue, which is in our slang sometimes also called “the dummy” – is when used by politicians to make them look wise, convincing and not to forget the most important.

We, the people from television use the autocue in particularly in the news programs of course also for everything I mentioned – meaning to look smart, unforgettable and convincing – but also to keep to the available timeframe and not to talk endlessly.

Therefore, in order not to keep talking endlessly let me use this paper to replace the auto-cue.

First of all let me thank you for this prestigious award.

It is a special pleasure and honour to receive this award by the esteemed dr. Busek who this award is also named after. Dr. Busek is one of the most relentless driving forces of peaceful crossborder cooperation and development of southeast Europe I know. He is a man who links great ideas also to small everyday and human steps. And this is surely the only way to succeed.

There are many things that we share and have in common – the intercultural character of family origin and the feeling of being a part of something which is called central European culture or manners.

I myself have experienced the intercultural character in my own family. I was born to a father who was a Slovene to see the light of day in the very heart of Austrian Carinthia and a mother who was of Austrian-German origin but spent most of her life in Maribor.

Because of this the understanding of any kind of minorities along with crossborder focus and perspective have been virtually handed over to me on a silver platter.

The time in this area played a very strange role with our destinies and many things that once used to be in place had to be rebuilt.

The Alps-Adria programme has been the first herald but not of reviving the old but of a search for methods to overcome the ideological and political barriers and resentments. I believe that this has been an important step towards new Europe.

An expression of this were also the efforts to talk about our truths and interests not only to ourselves and one against the other but in a crossborder dialogue.

This is what led to the first Austrian-Slovene TV documentary on Slovenes living in Austrian Carinthia which was created by the unforgettable Helmut Andics and me under the very meaningful title – Two is More than One. At that time, many blunt truth has been heard by the people on both sides of the border for the first time making them think – and keep wondering.

Although, all my life as a journalist I focused exclusively on foreign policy the questions by all kinds of minorities, in particular ethnic ones have always specially attracted my attention, just as the Balkans. I am both proud and sad that I am also someone from the Balkans. For me this has always been the synonym of a magical creative force, creativity and inspiration, a major opportunity which keeps longing for a bright future- but always remains caught by the past.

Therefore, allow me to underline at this point just one thing: we should not allow that hatred between these nations should ever be re-ignited, sparked by biased media which have been so many times by now subject of hatred, politics and nonprofessional attitude.

Srebrenica from the nineties has become a symbol, but let us not forget that the same happened in this very area in the forties of the past century. This is the most frightening. To realize that history has not taught us a lesson.
Independent and developed, unyielding and responsible media is the most effective tool for maintaining democracy and peace. Therefore, let me invite you to make special continuous efforts for their leverage in southeast Europe in order not to allow any hegemony by anyone.
This is especially true for public broadcasting media whose existence and development are still and over and over again under threat. Let us not allow them to lag behind in their technological progress. The dark forces require darkness. They can only be discouraged by light.

Crossborder concern and all-round assistance regarding this media is certainly the strongest guarantee for peace and prosperity. “

Winner of the Dr. Erhard Busek-SEEMO 2009 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is pleased to announce the winner of the Dr. Erhard Busek-SEEMO 2009 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe.

After careful deliberation, the international jury has chosen Boris Bergant, born in April 1948 in Maribor, Slovenia, in recognition of his continuous and outstanding contribution for better communication, exchange and cooperation between the public services in different countries in the South East European region. The jury based its decision on the integrity and personal dedication of Boris Bergant in carrying out his work.

Boris Bergant is the co-founder of the broadcasting project, Alpe Adria 1983, the oldest European trans-border radio and TV project still in operation. He has been involved his entire life in the issue of national minorities and established the first pan-European TV co-production, Minorities-the Wealth of Europe (1983-1986), with 14 countries participating. With the support of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), IPI and UNESCO, Boris Bergant established a regional centre for professional assistance and humanitarian help in Ljubljana, Slovenia, during the war in ex-Yugoslavia (1991-1995).

In his work for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Boris Bergant co-organised the establishment in 1999 of the new independent RTK Kosovo, where he is still a member of the Board of Directors.

During his career, Boris Bergant has received many awards for his work as a journalist, including the Tomsiceva Award for journalistic achievement in Slovenia, and prizes at TV festivals in Monte Carlo, New York and Leipzig.
The Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO Award for Better Understanding is sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, Jean Monnet Professor ad personam, President of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, Coordinator of SECI – Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, former Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and President of the European Forum Alpbach.

In 2002, the jury honoured the Croatian journalist, Denis Latin, with the award. In 2003, it was presented to Kemal Kurspahic, former editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje. Brankica Petkovic, Head of the Center for Media Policy at the Peace Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was the recipient of the 2005 award. Danko Plevnik, international relations columnist for the Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija in Split, was the winner of the 2006 award. Milena Dimitrova, commentator for the Bulgarian daily newspaper Trud in Sofia, was the winner of 2007, and Brankica Stankovic, editor for TV B92 in Belgrade, Serbia is last year’s winner.

The seventh Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe will be presented on Friday, 16 October 2009, by Dr. Erhard Busek and by SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic at Haus der Musik, Seilerstätte 30, 1010 Vienna, Austria. To attend the event, please contact:
info@seemo.org

Announcement

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is pleased to announce the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO 2009 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe. Sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, Coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), Chairman of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), and President of the European Forum Alpbach, the EUR 2,000 award will be presented to a journalist, editor, media executive or journalism trainer in South Eastern Europe, who has promoted better understanding amongst peoples in the region and worked towards ending minority-related problems, ethnic division, racism, xenophobia, etc.

In 2002, the international SEEMO jury chose Croatian journalist Denis Latin as the recipient of the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO 2002 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe, in recognition of his outstanding contribution toward better understanding in South Eastern Europe through his television programme Latinica. In 2003, the award was presented to Kemal Kurspahic, former editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje. The 2005 award was given to Brankica Petkovic, Head of the Center for Media Policy at the Peace Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In 2006, the Croatian journalist Danko Plevnik, international relations columnist for the Split-based daily Slobodna Dalmacija, was the recipient of the award. The Bulgarian investigative journalist Milena Dimitrova received the award in 2007. In 2008, the SEEMO jury chose Brankica Stankovic, editor for RTV B92 in Belgrade, who introduced new and improved standards of professionalism to Serbian journalism and has addressed in her TV programme, The Insider (Insajder), important issues that have been either concealed or sidelined by the Serbian authorities.

If you know of anyone who would be a worthy recipient of the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe, please send a letter by regular post or email to SEEMO with basic details about the candidate (along with a professional CV describing why he/she should receive the award), as well as his/her contact information (media organisation, address, phone, fax, email). In case you would like to nominate a media outlet or an organisation/institution, please always provide details of its representative, as the award can be presented to individuals only.

If your nomination is supported by an organisation/media outlet, please send us the name of the contact person supporting your nomination, as well as basic information about the organisation/media outlet. If your nomination is supported by another individual or individuals, please send us their details and contact information. We would also need your own details and contact information (address, phone, fax, email, mobile phone). Please note that members of the jury cannot be nominated for the award.

Please send us any additional material about the nominated person (TV reports on video or DVD, audio reports on cassette or CD, or copies of articles in print media) by regular post to our Vienna office, if possible with a brief English translation. Unfortunately, supporting material cannot be returned, so please always send copies of the original material.

Please send your nomination and supporting documents to:

SEEMO/IPI Busek Award 2009 Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43 1 513 39 40 Fax: +43 1 512 90 15 E-mail: info@seemo.org

The deadline for applications for the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO 2009 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe is: 15 May 2009. The award will be presented on 15. October 2009 in Vienna, Austria. SEEMO will announce the winner in an official press release some days before the presentation.

PHOTO GALLERY

Speech by Boris Bergant :

“Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen
Technology has brought us the auto cue, which is nowadays not only reserved to people making television but increasingly used by statesmen. The purpose of auto cue, which is in our slang sometimes also called “the dummy” – is when used by politicians to make them look wise, convincing and not to forget the most important.
We, the people from television use the autocue in particularly in the news programs of course also for everything I mentioned – meaning to look smart, unforgettable and convincing – but also to keep to the available timeframe and not to talk endlessly.
Therefore, in order not to keep talking endlessly let me use this paper to replace the auto-cue.
First of all let me thank you for this prestigious award.
It is a special pleasure and honour to receive this award by the esteemed dr. Busek who this award is also named after. Dr. Busek is one of the most relentless driving forces of peaceful crossborder cooperation and development of southeast Europe I know. He is a man who links great ideas also to small everyday and human steps. And this is surely the only way to succeed.
There are many things that we share and have in common – the intercultural character of family origin and the feeling of being a part of something which is called central European culture or manners.
I myself have experienced the intercultural character in my own family. I was born to a father who was a Slovene to see the light of day in the very heart of Austrian Carinthia and a mother who was of Austrian-German origin but spent most of her life in Maribor.
Because of this the understanding of any kind of minorities along with crossborder focus and perspective have been virtually handed over to me on a silver platter.
The time in this area played a very strange role with our destinies and many things that once used to be in place had to be rebuilt.
The Alps-Adria programme has been the first herald but not of reviving the old but of a search for methods to overcome the ideological and political barriers and resentments. I believe that this has been an important step towards new Europe.
An expression of this were also the efforts to talk about our truths and interests not only to ourselves and one against the other but in a crossborder dialogue.
This is what led to the first Austrian-Slovene TV documentary on Slovenes living in Austrian Carinthia which was created by the unforgettable Helmut Andics and me under the very meaningful title – Two is More than One. At that time, many blunt truth has been heard by the people on both sides of the border for the first time making them think – and keep wondering.
Although, all my life as a journalist I focused exclusively on foreign policy the questions by all kinds of minorities, in particular ethnic ones have always specially attracted my attention, just as the Balkans. I am both proud and sad that I am also someone from the Balkans. For me this has always been the synonym of a magical creative force, creativity and inspiration, a major opportunity which keeps longing for a bright future- but always remains caught by the past.
Therefore, allow me to underline at this point just one thing: we should not allow that hatred between these nations should ever be re-ignited, sparked by biased media which have been so many times by now subject of hatred, politics and nonprofessional attitude.
Srebrenica from the nineties has become a symbol, but let us not forget that the same happened in this very area in the forties of the past century. This is the most frightening. To realize that history has not taught us a lesson.
Independent and developed, unyielding and responsible media is the most effective tool for maintaining democracy and peace. Therefore, let me invite you to make special continuous efforts for their leverage in southeast Europe in order not to allow any hegemony by anyone.
This is especially true for public broadcasting media whose existence and development are still and over and over again under threat. Let us not allow them to lag behind in their technological progress. The dark forces require darkness. They can only be discouraged by light.
Crossborder concern and all-round assistance regarding this media is certainly the strongest guarantee for peace and prosperity. “

Croatian journalist Drago Hedl wins the 2008 CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism

June 2, 2008 • CEI Award 2008 • disabled comments

The Central European Initiative (CEI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) are pleased to announce that the Croatian journalist Drago Hedl is the winner of the CEI Award 2008 for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism.

An International Jury, composed of Norbert Mappes Niediek (Austria), Zlatko Dizdarevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Carlo Muscatello (Italy), Jacek Pawlicki (Poland) and Paul Radu (Romania) – with Hari Stajner (Serbia), the former Chairperson of the CEI Working Group on Information and Media, acting as advisor together with Oliver Vujovic (SEEMO) – examined a total of 23 nominees from 10 CEI Member States. The meeting of the Jury, held in Trieste at the CEI Headquarters, was chaired by Amb. Harald Kreid, CEI-ES Alternate Secretary General.

It was unanimously decided that the Award should go to the Croatian journalist Drago Hedl with the Serbian Brankica Stankovic as a close runner-up.

The CEI Award will be bestowed on the occasion of the “CEI Forum for Journalists”, to be held in Wroclaw, Poland, on 2-3 June 2008

Drago Hedl and Ambassador Harald Kreid – Presentation of the CEI Award 2008 – Wroclaw, June 2008

The Jury based its decision on the integrity and personal courage demonstrated by Hedl in carrying out his work on war crimes committed against civilians in the eastern city of Osijek in 1991. According to the Jury, “writing about war crimes is not something that makes a journalist popular. People are unwilling to confront the dark side of the war, and often dismiss those who report on it as traitors. With this unpopular image Hedl has to continue living in Croatia”.
Drago Hedl is editor and journalist of the critical political weekly Feral Tribune from Split. He also worked for the dailies Novi list, Rijeka, Slobodna Dalmacija, Split, Glas Slavonije, Osijek and the literary magazine Revija, Osijek. He collaborated with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London. Many of his articles were published in leading print media in Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, USA and the Czech Republic.

Hedl was the scriptwriter of the film “Vukovar: the Final Cut”, directed by Janko Baljak from Belgrade, produced by TV B92 (Belgrade), as a joint Serbian-Croatian recreation of the Vukovar war in 1991.

Hedl, born 1950, has been an active journalist for over 25 years. He holds a Bachelor degree in Yugoslav literature from the Osijek Academy. He received the Knight International Journalism Award in 2006, his film “Vukovar-Final Cut” received the Human Rights Award at the 12th Sarajevo Film Festival in the same year. In 2006 he was also nominated Journalist of the Year of the Croatian Journalist’s Association. In 2004, he received the Golden Microphone award by the Croatian Association of Radio and Newspapers, and in 2001, together with his wife Ivana who is also a journalist, the annual award of the Croatian Journalist’s Association for the best interview in the year 2000.

Yet, in all this years, rather than accepting honours, he became more used to defending himself in court. Because of his work, he received numerous death threats (the latest in February 2008), which naturally affect not only himself, but his wife Ivana and his son Matija, a biochemist, as well.

The Central European Initiative (CEI) is an intergovernmental forum with its headquarters in Trieste, Italy, composed of 18 Member States: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The CEI has traditionally paid attention to the area of information and media and encouraged the role of independent media in its Member States. In view of the difficult conditions under which journalists are frequently exercising their profession, in 2008, the CEI, in cooperation with SEEMO, has launched the first edition of the CEI Award for Outstanding Merits in Journalism (with a focus on investigative journalism), endowed with 5.000 EUR.

I SEEMO PHOTO HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD 2008

May 25, 2008 • SEEMO Human Rights Photo Award 2008 • disabled comments

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), in cooperation with the BETA news agency from Belgrade, Serbia, is pleased to announce its presentation of an award for the best photograph in the human rights field. The award, issued for the first time this year, is based on a decision by a jury comprised of Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, Jorgos Papadakis, SEEMO board member from Greece, and Djordje Zorkic of the BETA news agency.

The first winner of this award is Maja Zlatevska (Dnevnik, Skopje), for the photograph “Zatvor” (“Prison”), her contribution to the human rights struggle in the region. The awardee will be presented with a sculpture, designed by Belgrade artist Ivana Dragojevic.

SEEMO will also issue a certificate of distinction to Marko Djurica (Blic/Reuters), for his photograph “Liturgija” (“Lithurgy”).

The awards ceremony was on Monday, 16 June 2008, at 13:00 in the Sava Centre in Belgrade, at the World Congress of the International Press Institute (IPI), of which SEEMO is an affiliate.

Details about the award:

BELGRADE, Feb. 27, 2008 (BETA) – The Beta News Agency called today a competition for the best newspaper photograph taken in the previous year. This is the fifth annual BETA Photograph of the Year competition. This year’s competition, like last year’s, will be international. The competition will be open until April 21 and all professional photographers are invited to compete for the prize.The prizes will be EUR1,000 for first place, EUR750 for second place, and EUR500 for third place. Special awards will also be given. The French Cultural Center in Belgrade will issue a special award for the best photograph taken by a photographer not older than 25. The award is a trip to the Photography Fair in Perpignan, France

The South East Europe media organization SEEMO will award a special plaque for the winning human rights-related shot.

An exhibition of the awarded and selected works will open at the New Moment Gallery in Belgrade on June 16, at 6 p.m. The opening of the BETA Photograph of the Year event will be held as part of the International Press Institute’s world congress and the organization’s 57th general assembly. A selection of the best photographs will also be exhibited at Belgrade’s Sava Center, where the gathering will take place. The IPI congress and general assembly are intended to bring together leading journalists, managers, and editors from all continents. The event, hosted by Belgrade’s Media Center, will be held under the slogan “Be in Belgrade.” The competition’s terms and conditions and application forms are available on the BETA News Agency’s Website – www.beta.co.rs

The panel of judges will consist of Ognjen Alujevic (Feral Tribune, Split) as chairman, Zelma Almaleh (BNGES, Sofia), Slobodan Djuric (Dnevnik, Skopje), Dragan Milovanovic (Vecernje Novosti, Belgrade) and Djordje Zorkic (BETA). The BETA Photograph of the Year competition was launched in 2004, the year BETA celebrated its 10th anniversar. BETA’s 2008 Photograph of the Year Competition has no special categories and authors can submit what they believe are their three best works, already published by the media outlets they work for:

– All professional photographers working for any print media in South East Europe – dailies, local and other newspapers, magazines, various publications and periodicals, as well as news agencies – have the right to participate in the competition, regardless of their status as full-time or part-time employees, or freelancers.
-Photographs taken from May 10, 2007 until April 21, 2008, in the course of regular assignments or as proposals to the editors may be submitted.
-Every competitor may submit up to three photographs, in CD format and in 300dpi resolution exclusively, each carrying the full name of the author, the title of the event shot and the date it was taken. The competitors may e-mail their work to \n betafotokonkurs@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . If they think it is in their interest to send photographs on photo paper, their size should be 30x40cm, also providing the above-mentioned data.

-The Beta News Agency will reproduce all photographs delivered in CD format or via e-mail on photo paper.
– Photographs should be sent to the Beta News Agency (11000 Belgrade, Ulica kralja Milana 4, Serbia) together with the application form that can be downloaded from www.beta.co.rs The application form stipulates the rights and obligations of the participants. By signing the form each author vouches for the truthfulness of the data given in the form. The application forms should be scanned or faxed to BETA at +381 11 362 06 07

– The deadline for submitting works is April 21, 2008 (works sent via mail should be stamped on April 21, 2008 at the latest). Any submissions after that date will not be considered by the jury.

SEEMO Human Rights Award 2008 to Spomenka Hribar from Slovenia

May 25, 2008 • SEEMO Human Rights 2008 • disabled comments

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe (SEE) and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is pleased to announce that the SEEMO Board has awarded the 2008 “SEEMO Award for Human Rights” to Slovenian journalist, writer and human rights advocate Spomenka Hribar.

Hribar received much publicity in the 1980s with her essay The Guilt and the Sin, which critically exposed the post-war liquidation of Nazi collaborators by the Communist regime. The essay described all liquidations as a crime, demanded an apology and emphasized the importance of public remembrance of these events, especially for purposes of national reconciliation. The essay was initially forbidden in the former Yugoslavia, then published three years later in 1987. Ever since, Hribar has been active in the media with her critical analyses, first of aspects of Communist rule and later of conservative, fundamentalist and nationalistic tendencies within Slovene society.

Hribar was born in Belgrade in 1941, to a Slovenian mother and Serbian father. Her father died in May 1942, as a consequence of imprisonment in Glavnjaca, and Spomenka and her mother moved to Slovenia after World War II. She graduated in philosophy and sociology from the Faculty of Philosophy at Ljubljana University, and obtained her Ph.D. in sociology. Spomenka Hribar is the author of eight books of philosophical and sociological critical content.

For decades Hribar cooperated with a range of top thinkers from all republics of the former Yugoslavia. Just before the first free democratic elections were held in Slovenia, Hribar entered politics. She actively contributed to aspirations for an independent Slovenia. Hribar left the Democratic Opposition when the party veered into a more conservative, fundamentalist and nationalistic direction after Slovenia gained independence.

Even after leaving politics Hribar remained a critical observer of developments in Slovenian society. Hribar’s endeavours and criticisms are based on a consistent respect for human rights, human dignity, freedom and responsible autonomy. Hribar strives to promote ethics amongst all levels of society, and her endeavours aim to further respect for all minorities, equality of the sexes, as well as more tolerance and conciliation in Slovenian society.

The “SEEMO Award for Human Rights” is an annual award dedicated to International Human Rights Day, on 10 December. SEEMO has been presenting the award since 2002.
In the year 2002, Christine von Kohl, editor-in-chief of the Vienna-based Balkan – Südosteuropäischer Dialog magazine received the award. In 2003, the recipient was Nebojsa Popov, founder of the Belgrade-based magazine Republika. Fatos Lubonja, an Albanian author, received it in 2004. Abdulhalim Dede, a journalist and member of the Turkish-Muslim minority living and working in Western Thrace, Greece, was the 2006 recipient. Seki Radoncic, author of the book ‘The Fatal Freedom’ and active in investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, received the award in 2007.

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The 2008 award was presented to Spomenka Hribar at 19:30 on Wednesday, 10 December, by Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, and Jorgos Papadakis, SEEMO Board Member, at the BTC, Smartinska 152 in Ljubljana. Joze Mermal, the president and CEO of BTC, will host the event.

The Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in 2008 to Brankica Stankovic, from RTV B92, Belgrade, Serbia

May 25, 2008 • Busek Award 2008 • disabled comments

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is pleased to announce the winner of the 2008 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe.

After careful deliberation, the SEEMO Jury has chosen Brankica Stankovic, born in October 1975 in Belgrade, Serbia. Stankovic has been working as an editor for TV B92 in Belgrade since 1997.

The SEEMO Jury based its decision on the integrity and personal courage demonstrated by Stankovic in carrying out her work. Her outstanding efforts in journalism, have contributed toward a better understanding and removing barriers between nations in South Eastern Europe.

In the course of her work, Brankica Stankovic introduced new and improved standards of professionalism to Serbian journalism and has addressed in her TV show, The Insider (Insajder), important issues that have been either concealed or sidelined by Serbian authorities. The Insider has attracted much attention and, as a consequence, the authorities have often resorted to launching investigations, pressing charges and issuing warrants. Even political leaders have felt it necessary to comment on allegations made in her show.

Brankica Stankovic received the Dusan Bogavac Award for ethics and courage in journalism, presented by the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, in 2005 and the Jug Grizelj Award for developing friendship among peoples and removing barriers between nations, presented by the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia/Jug Grizelj Fund, in 2006.

The 2,000 EUR media award is sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, Coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), Chairman of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), and President of the European Forum Alpbach, and is awarded every year to a journalist, editor, media executive or journalism trainer in South East Europe, who, through the media, has promoted better understanding among peoples in the region, worked towards solving minority-related problems, and fought against ethnic discrimination, racism, and xenophobia, among others.

In 2002, the jury honoured the Croatian journalist, Denis Latin, with the award. In 2003, it was presented to Kemal Kurspahic, former editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje. Brankica Petkovic, Head of the Center for Media Policy at the Peace Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was the recipient of the 2005 award. Danko Plevnik, international relations columnist for the Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija in Split, was the winner of the 2006 award, and Milena Dimitrova, commentator for the Bulgarian daily newspaper Trud in Sofia, was last year’s winner.

The Sixth Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe will be presented in Vienna on 16 November 2008 by Dr. Erhard Busek, and by SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic.

Announciation

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is pleased to announce the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO 2008 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe.Sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, special coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, the 2,000 Euro award will be given to a journalist, editor, media executive or person educating journalists in South Eastern Europe, who promotes a climate of better understanding among people in the region and who works towards ending minority problems, ethnic divisions, racism, xenophobia, etc.

In 2002, the international jury chose Croatian journalist, Denis Latin, as its recipient of the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO 2002 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe, in recognition of his outstanding efforts in journalism, which contributed toward better understanding in South Eastern Europe. In 2003, the award was presented to Kemal Kurspahic, former editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje.

The 2005 Award was given to Brankica Petkovic, Head of the Center for Media Policy at the Peace Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and editor-in-chief of the book versions of Media Watch and Media Watch Journal. She is also the author of a number of articles on media representations of minorities, with a special focus on the Roma minority in Slovenia. In 2006 the Croatian journalist, Danko Plevnik, international relations columnist for the Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija from Split, was the recipient of the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO 2006 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe. In 2007 the Bulgarian investigative journalist Milena Dimitrova received it for her outstanding efforts in journalism which contributed toward better understanding in South Eastern Europe.

If you know of anyone who would be a worthy recipient of the Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe, please send a letter to SEEMO with basic details about the person (along with a professional CV, describing why she / he should receive the award), as well as the contact information of the person (media organisation, address, phone, fax, email). In case you would like to nominate a media outlet or an organisation / institution, please always provide details of its representative, because this award can be presented only to individuals.

If your nomination is supported by an organisation / media outlet, please send us the name of the contact person supporting your nomination, as well as basic information about the organisation / media outlet. If your nomination is supported by another individual or individuals, please send us their details and contact information. We would also need your own details and contact information (address, phone, fax, email, mobile phone). Please note that members of the jury cannot be nominated for the award. Any additional material about the nominated person (such as TV reports on video or DVD, audio reports on cassette or CD, or articles in newspapers),if possible with a short English translation, are welcomed. Unfortunately, supporting material cannot be returned, so please always send copies of the original material. Please send your nomination and supporting documents to:

SEEMO/IPI , “Busek Award” Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria Tel: +43 1 513 39 40 Fax: +43 1 512 90 15 E-mail: info@seemo.org

The deadline for applications for the 2008 Dr. Erhard Busek – SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe is: 1 June 2008. The Award will be presented on 16 November 2008 in Vienna/Austria.

Investigative journalist national meeting

December 7, 2007 • Investigative Journalists National Meeting 2007 • disabled comments
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Meeting of Investigative Journalists in Bulgaria, December 2007, by SEEMO in cooperation with Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and and Austrian Ministry for Foregin Affairs (BMEIA).

Meeting of Investigative Journalists in Albania, Tirana, Albania by SEEMO in cooperation with Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Albanian Institute for Media, Tirana and and Austrian Ministry for Foregin Affairs (BMEIA)

Meeting of Investigative Journalists in Serbia, Babe, Serbia, by SEEMO in cooperation with Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and and Austrian Ministry for Foregin Affairs (BMEIA).

Meeting of Investigative Journalists in Croatia, Opatija, Croatia, by SEEMO.

Meeting of Investigative Journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by SEEMO.

Meeting of Investigative Journalists in Poland, Warsaw, Poland by SEEMO.