The ceremony took place in Europe House in Prishtina, Kosovo on September 25.
The jury consisted of Imer Mushkolaj,a veteran journalist, columnist and opinionist who has led the Kosovo Journalists Association (KJA) and now heads the Press Council of Kosovo; Amra Zejneli Loxha, director of RFE/RL’s Kosovo Service; and Darko Dimitrijević, Editor-in-Chief at Radio Goraždevac since 2005 and a founding member of the Kosovo Media Association (KOSMA). More about the jury members here.
First prize went to Behar Mustafa and Kreshnik Gashi from Kallxo.com for their series of investigations into corruption with building permits in Brezovica.
Second prize went to Alberta Hashani from Betimi për Drejtësi for her story revealing judicial misconduct involving a bribed prosecutor.
Third place went to two stories from the same media outlet, Kosovo 2.0. The first, by Dardan Hoti and Aulonë Kadriu, focused on the consequences of online harassment and the victims of image-based sexual abuse.
The second, by Dafina Halili, was for her investigation of sexual harassment at the University of Pristina.
Hoti and Kadriu produced their awarded story as part of their project included in the Media Innovation Europe project – Audience engaged grants. This was their third award.
The Head of the EU Office in Kosovo/EU Special Representative, Ambassador Aivo Orav, handed the awards to the winners, highlighting the key importance of journalistic work in every society.