A new prize for journalists in Ukraine has been created – the Georgiy Gongadze award.
“For me, this award will be for those who courageously, responsibly and in a new way create ways for Ukraine to search for truth and maintain trust. I want this award to serve, as it once Gongadze used to do, a certain barometer in the journalistic environment and the future award winners could serve as an example in the profession,” Gongadze’s wife, Myroslava, said during a video conference discussing the award on April 9.
The founders of the award are the public organization Pen Ukraine in partnership with the Alumni Association of the Kyiv Mohyla Business School and the Kyiv-based ezine Ukrayinska Pravda.
The award is designed to support those journalists who follow the principles and values of independent journalism, demonstrate professionalism, competence, innovation, create materials that lead to solving or understanding certain problems in society and changes in the country, and also make a significant contribution to the development of the media environment as a whole.
“I really wanted to emphasize the important components for the journalistic profession – responsibility, preservation of trust, integrity and what is key for me – integrity … Georgiy was not only a fighter of the media front, he actually tried to create new meanings, formats in journalism,” she said.
The prize winner will be determined by nominating candidates and voting for them by jury members, which will consist of nine people. The size of the award is $3,000.
The award ceremony will be held on May 21, Georgiy Gongadze’s birthday.
Gongadze disappeared in Kyiv on September 16, 2000. In November of the same year, a decapitated body was found in a forested area in Kyiv region. Gongadze’s skull was found in 2009. The person or persons who commissioned Gongadze’s murder have not been established.
