The ‘Free Media Awards’ is the name of the press prizes awarded by the two foundations, The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Zeit Stiftung Bucerius, Hamburg. The awards seek to highlight and strengthen the independent role of journalists and media in Eastern and Central Europe.
This year’s prize laureates are:
- Investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach from Ukraine
- Investigative media outlet iFact from Georgia
- Online media outlet Factor TV from Armenia
- Online media outlet Verstka from Russia (in exile)
- Journalist and media director Andrei Aliaksandrau from Belarus (imprisoned)
The NHC congratulates the prize laureates.
Ukrainian Mykhailo Tkach is receiving a Free Media Award for his dauntless and consistent investigative wartime journalism. As head of investigative journalism at Ukrainska Pravda, he has helped shape the public debate in Ukraine and internationally by exposing cases of corruption and abuses of power.
Georgian iFact is receiving a Free Media Award for its significant investigative journalism on matters of great public interest in Georgia that others are trying to conceal. The investigative journalists at the Tbilisi-based news outlet are behind major investigations into Russian influence in the country and ties to the Georgian Dream Party, as well as corruption among the elite at state level. You can read an article by iFact on the shadow fleet in the Norwegian outlet ‘The Forbidden Times’ (page 26).
Armenian Factor TV is receiving a Free Media Award for its independent, fact-based journalism, which clearly contributes to a more nuanced public debate in Armenia. Through rigorous reporting, investigations and analysis, Factor TV cuts through disinformation and propaganda. The outlet has distinguished itself through investigative and watchdog journalism, exposing corruption, conflicts of interest, breaches of integrity and abuses of power. It also reports extensively on human rights, violence against women, minority rights, and other sensitive or underreported issues.
The time surrounding the June elections in Armenia was turbulent and marred with disinformation, propaganda and polarisation. Factor TV played a crucial role in debunking online narratives and exposing the murky waters surrounding the Wyoming Star newspaper copies suddenly distributed all over Armenia. A really well-deserved award!Lene Wetteland, NHC
The independent online media outlet Verstka was established in April 2022 in response to the destruction of Russian media during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Based in Prague, Verstka is receiving a Free Media Award for being a credible first-hand source on the human costs of the war, militarisation and oppression, domestic and gender-based violence, and the persecution of LGBTQ+ communities. Its journalists frequently document what happens to those who oppose the war. Verstka reports on Russia without regard for censorship, pressure or manipulation. It has become one of the most widely cited independent Russian media outlets covering politics, society and culture. Russia has blocked Verstka, and its editor-in-chief has been designated a ‘foreign agent’.
The Belarusian journalist and media director Andrei Aliaksandrau, who is currently imprisoned in Belarus, receives a Free Media Award for his courage and commitment to freedom of the press and freedom of expression under the repressive regime. Through his work at the independent Belarusian news agency BelaPAN and the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), he has helped strengthen professional journalism standards, support independent media, and build international networks of journalists and human rights defenders.
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