As the national ceremonies for the EU Investigative Journalism Awards 2023 unfold, we’re thrilled to share with you the identities of the Evaluation Jury responsible for judging the entries in the regional category, along with the date of the regional award ceremony.
This marks the inaugural year of the regional award, a significant milestone aimed at recognising outstanding investigative stories, fostering collaboration, and raising the overall standard of investigative journalism in the Western Balkans and Türkiye. Out of a staggering 267 submissions, 159 candidates are competing for national awards, while others daringly entered both national and regional ones.
Without further ado, let's unveil the esteemed members of the Evaluation Jury entrusted with evaluating the regional submissions:
- Brent Sadler began his career at ITN in 1981, where he covered stories across the globe, including Chad, Libya, Uganda, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Falklands. His distinguished career includes multiple awards, such as a BAFTA for Gulf War coverage in 1991 and an Overseas Press Club of America Award in 1996 for reporting from South Lebanon during the Israeli offensive. He later joined CNN in 1991, reporting on significant global events for 18 years, and transitioned to feature programming while also establishing a consultancy for strategic communications. Sadler has played pivotal roles in media and news development, including leading the establishment of the N1 news network for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia.
- Janine Gibson is the editor of FT Weekend. Previously, she served as the FT's Head of Digital Projects and Platforms. She joined the FT in 2019 after four years as Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed UK, where the team won News Website of the Year at the 2017 UK Press Awards. Prior to BuzzFeed, Janine was the Deputy Editor of The Guardian. Notably, she launched The Guardian US in 2013 and oversaw its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Edward Snowden leaks. Her other roles at The Guardian included Media Editor and Editor of theguardian.com
- Marko Milosavljević is an academic at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, holding the position of Full Professor and serving as the Head of the Department of Communication. He is actively engaged in international initiatives, such as the Committee of Experts on Media Resilience and Sustainability at the Council of Europe. In his extensive career, he has held key roles in media policy, including chairing the Communications Law and Policy section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). Marko’s work has been published in international books and journals. Additionally, he has actively contributed to shaping media legislation in Slovenia and serves on the Ethics Committee of the Slovenian Advertising Chamber.
The regional ceremony will be held on 5 October in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The award fund is the same as for the national prizes, 10,000 euros - 5,000 euros for the best story, 3,000 for the 2nd prize and 2,000 for the 3rd. The prize amounts are cumulative - in case two applicants share ranks, they will equally divide the prize allocated for that position.
The EU Award for Investigative Journalism 2023 is part of the project “Strengthening Quality Journalism in Western Balkans and Türkiye II”. This aims to recognise and promote outstanding achievements in investigative journalism, as well as improve the visibility of quality journalism in the Western Balkans and Türkiye.
The project is funded by the European Union, and it is implemented by a consortium composed of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN Hub, Central European University (CEU) – Hungary, Association of Journalists (AJ) – Türkiye, Thomson Media (TM) – Germany, University Goce Delcev Stip (UGD) – North Macedonia, The Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) – North Macedonia, Media Association of South-East Europe (MASE) – Montenegro and Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Kosovo (BIRN Kosovo).
