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The journalistic year in a video
In order to bring on the stage the ever more pressing atmosphere in which journalists do their daily work, the 24th edition of Gala began with a video that became viral, where Ilan Shor – Orhei Mayor, verbally abuses the journalists, pulls out his belt and threatens to punish them severely when he comes to power.
The broom of Marina Tauber, Deputy Leader of ‘Shor’ Party, was also part of the scenery, reminding of another event where the journalists were chased with a broom by the sympathizers of this political formation.
Note that in both case, the General Prosecutor’s Office did not classify these threats as hostile behavior towards media representatives, saying it had no grounds to hold Ilan Shor or Marina Tauber accountable.
The best recipe to reach people
Given this scenery, the journalists Irina Gotisan and Dumitru Ciorici took over the roles of presenters of the Gala. One by one, they invited the winners to the stage to give the awards. In total, the Press Club offered nine awards in six categories. Due to the lack of candidates, ‘Radio’ category was the only one without awards offered.
Every winning journalist had a word to say to his/her colleagues present in the room or watching the Gala online. Natalia Sergheev (Radio Free Europe), who took the apple in the ‘TV/Radio’ category, thanked the editorial office team, her colleagues and the Editor-in-Chief Vasile Botnaru, from whom she learned the secrets of the job. Marina Ciobanu, who was awarded in the same category as her colleague Viorica Tataru from ‘Ziarul de Garda’, said that ‘the best recipe to reach people is to be among them’.
Everyone with his/her own paradise!
Andrei Mardari from ‘Moldpres’ Agency and Nadejda Roscovanu from ‘Jurnal de Chisinau’ newspaper were awarded in the ‘Photo’ category. When asked how he saw the reality in Moldova, Andrei Mardari answered briefly: ‘Gloomy’. Nadejda Roscovanu, awarded for the photo where the child of certain Turkish citizens extradited from Moldova was crying after his father, told what she felt when she caught the scene: ‘I cried with them.’
Nicolae Cuschevici, Liuba Sevciuc, Olga Ceaglei (RISE Moldova) were invited to take their apple for the ‘Paradise of the Oligarch’ investigation, an investigation about the assets of the Democratic Party Chair Vladimir Plahotniuc. Among other things, Olga Ceaglei added: ‘Everyone has his/her paradise. They have the paradise via offshore accounts and – as we saw – at the feet of the Alps, and we have our paradise when we reveal what they want to hide.’
We have a magic wand in our hand...
Stela Danila from TVR Moldova was awarded in the ‘TV Report’ category, for the material about people suffering from autism. ‘In nine years of media, I have never applied to this contest. Not the desire for gratitude or laurels was my motivation this year, but the fact that I wanted to demonstrate once again what magic wand do we, the journalists, have in our hand and how much we can do with it’, Stela Danila said.
TVR Moldova also received a special award in ‘The Best Media Project’ category for ‘Generatia Unirii’ campaign. ‘We worked enormously at this ‘Generatia Unirii’ media campaign and I assure you that it will continue in 2019 too, because we committed to bring to the forefront the craftsmen who built the Unification’, said Vitalie Gutu, the producer of the ‘Interviurile Telejurnalului Moldova’ show.
Local media journalists were also awarded
Tatiana Mitrofan from the ‘Observatorul de Nord’ newspaper was the winner in the ‘Print Media’ category. The journalist mentioned that it is much harder to do journalism in the regions than in the capital, because ‘you face the people you write about or write for’, and you have to be very responsible. ‘Hope of the Year’ award was also offered for the local press. The award went to journalist Iurie Rotaru from Balti ‘SP’. He was not present at the award ceremony since he migrated from the country, according to newspaper Director Veacelav Perunov. Balti ‘SP’ newspaper also received the National Award for Professional Journalistic Ethics and Deontology, offered by the Press Council. The special award for the Best Reflection of the Realities in the Regions of the Republic of Moldova by the Local Press was offered to Nokta.md portal, while the Award of Excellence – to Tudor Iascenco, Director of Rezina ‘Cuvantul’ newspaper. In his message of gratitude, the journalist expressed the hope that ‘if we want to become the fourth power, we must be a solid guild’.
Other categories awarded by the Gala
Longread – a new type of journalism – also come to the attention of Gala organisers. Polina Cupcea, founder of ‘Oameni si Kilometri’ portal, and ‘NewsMaker’ editorial office were awarded in this category. The special award Evolution of the Year was given to TV8, which, according to journalist Natalia Morari, went through many challenges this year, and managed to overcome them.
Alina Andronache, author of ‘Vlogul unei Mame Feministe’ [The Vlog of a Feminist Mother], was the winner of the Best Vlog/Blog. ‘Via this vlog, I want a world without stereotypes’, Alina said.
The winners and those present at the Journalists of the Year Gala were greeted by ‘Plaiesii’ Ensemble, which delighted them with an exceptional musical moment.
