Verica Marinčić is the recipient of the journalism award for ethics and courage "Dušan Bogavac."

In the past year, one of the most difficult and challenging in the history of our journalism, as well as in the previous years, Verica Marinčić distinguished herself with her brave, professional, and at times defiant work. Her engagement in the pursuit of truth and her recognizable reporting style have placed her at the forefront of our contemporary journalism. Neither threats, insults, nor even the application of physical force during her work have deterred her.

By reporting in the public interest, rather than in the interest of any powerful individuals or groups, she has provoked open hostility from local government leaders in Inđija, which is reflected in a series of SLAPP lawsuits against her and institutional harassment. Nevertheless, Verica Marinčić does not give up and, through her persistent and courageous work in a small community, clearly demonstrates what true journalism is.

Verica Marinčić began her journalism career in 2000 at RTV Inđija, later affirming herself at the Sveti Đorđe and Sremska television stations and as a correspondent for RTV Vojvodina, before launching the In Media portal five years ago.

Among the finalists for the award, according to the votes of the jury members, was also Radmilo Marković, a journalist from the Belgrade office of BIRN and the weekly "Vreme," while the shortlist also included Ana Novaković (N1 television), Nedim Sejdinović (weekly Vreme), and the student editorial team Blokada Info from Novi Sad.

The members of the journalism jury were Tamara Skrozza and Saša Dragojlo, previous award winners, Filip Mladenović, representing the "Dušan Bogavac" Foundation, and Željko Bodrožić, president of NUNS.

The Award for Journalistic Ethics and Courage has been awarded since 1991 in memory of the honorable and courageous journalist Dušan Bogavac (1931 – 1990) and in support of brave and ethical journalism in Serbia. Bogavac openly advocated for democracy and freedom of expression in the 1980s and founded a Solidarity Fund for endangered journalists.

The award, jointly presented by the "Dušan Bogavac" Foundation and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, has been previously awarded to: Stojan Cerović (1991), Radio B92 (1992), Predrag Koraksić Corax (1993), Svetlana Lukić (1995), Nebojša Popov (1996), the weekly Monitor (1997), Miroslav Radulović (1998), Miodrag Stanisavljević (2000), Željko Bodrožić (2001), Dejan Anastasijević (2002), Vukašin Obradović (2003), Bojan Tončić (2004), Brankica Stanković (2005), Zoran Janić (2006), the cultural supplement Beton and the weekly Ekonomist (2007), Mirko Đorđević (2008), Pavel Domonji (2009), Teofil Pančić (2010), Dinko Gruhonjić and Ljubomir Živkov (2011), Marko Somborac (2012), Predrag Blagojević (2013), Danica Vučenić (2014), Dušan Petričić (2015), Sanja Kljajić (2016), the investigative editorial teams KRIK and CINS (2017), the portal KoSSev (2018), Vuk Cvijić and N1 television (2019), Jelena Zorić and Aleksandar Crvkotić (2020), Dragana Pećo (2021), Snežana Čongradin (2022), Saša Dragojlo (2023), and Tamara Skrozza (2024).

Source: NUNS