05. 05. 2011

B92 reporters win investigative journalism award

Belgrade, May 5, 2011. (B92) - Authors of B92 investigative program Insajder (Insider) have won an investigative journalism award for their reporting on abuse in Kolubara coal mine.

There were many problems during the production of the Fraud of the Century series and the authors of the Insajder are only partially happy about the result.

"This award is a confirmation that Insajder survived despite the fact that Insajder Editor Brankica Stanković lives and works under police protection. This is why a part of the series was done undercover," Irena Stević said, accepting the award on behalf of the Insajder team.

"Brankica (Stanković) has been moved to a secret location outside Belgrade for safety reasons, we did our work through emails, Skype, phone... A half of the team practically joined her at the secret location at one point. Despite of it all we are satisfied with the storm that Kolubara series caused in the public," she pointed out.

"Satisfaction is not complete because a response from the official institutions is missing. Nobody has reacted so far, Insajder will therefore continue dealing with the issue and asking awkward questions because it is in the interest of all citizens," Tanja Janković said.

The award for excellence in investigative reporting is awarded every year by the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.

Investigative journalism "dangerous undertaking"

The awards were also given in the print media, online journalism and young journalists categories. The award for the best radio program was not awarded this year.

Zoran Janjić won the award for online journalism, Zoran Radulović for the print media and NUNS Investigative Journalism Center investigative team won the young journalists' award.

Economic issues dominated this year's award-winning reports.

According to NUNS President Vukašin Obradović, large-scale frauds, thefts and deceptions of the Serbian citizens when it comes to privatizations dominate our media and it also reflected on the investigative reports. He believes that it will continue to be the case in the future as well.

Participants of the award ceremony especially stressed that investigative journalism in Serbia today represented a "dangerous undertaking" and that it undeservedly had a bad status.