Vijesti journalist Mila Radulović is the winner of the third prize in the competition for the best investigative story, based on data obtained on the basis of the Law on Free Access to Information.
She received the award for the story "The Law of Silence on Unconstitutional Wiretapping".
The members of the jury were professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Snježana Milivojević, president of the Assembly of the Media Center, Duško Vuković, and journalist of the Crime and Corruption Research Network (KRIK), Bojana Jovanović.
They stated that with the story, Radulović "opened the door to the dark world of abuses" resorted to by institutions that in democratic societies have an obligation to protect human rights, and her text points to a danger that ordinary citizens are often unaware of, and which refers to the essence of the right to privacy .
"The unwillingness of institutions to provide journalists with data on the extent to which they illegally monitor citizens' telephone communications raises suspicions that the basic principles of democracy are not being respected in the state and that institutions are abusing legal powers, thus making citizens hostages of the system," the explanation says.
Freelance journalist Sanja Rašović won the first prize for the article "Ulcinj: elections and prosecutors are at the door". The second prize went to Pobjeda journalist Jovan Nikitović for a series of stories about the National Museum of Montenegro.
The jury assessed that the first prize-winning investigative story, which was created in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Journalist Network (BIRN) and the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN), accurately exposes the anatomy of mostly unpunished corruption and abuse of institutional power in a local community.
"In thorough research, the journalist showed all research qualities and respected the highest professional standards, collected and analyzed documentation, contacted relevant interlocutors and rounded off the whole by vividly presenting her discoveries and the character of the protagonists of her research to the readers," the jury explained.
They, as announced by the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), said that Rašović showed why journalistic talent, persistence and courage, combined with free access to information, are the best allies of the public in realizing the right to know.
It is added that in an extensive analysis, Nikitović discovered how decades of carelessness by competent institutions led to the disappearance or damage of 14,5 thousand objects from museums throughout Montenegro.
"From text to text, carelessness, ignorance, irresponsibility and illegality intertwine, and the journalist rightly points out that the state has shown no interest in preserving and protecting cultural heritage, nor in punishing those whose duty it was to take care of these cultural assets," they assessed. members of the jury.
The awards will be presented to the authors tomorrow at the EU Info Center, followed by a discussion entitled "The role of free access to information in investigative journalism and the fight against corruption".
MANS awards awards with the support of the European Union (EU) within the Media Professionalization Program.
"It is the first in a series of award cycles for the best journalistic stories, and the next contest is open until November, when the authors of stories who used advanced Internet techniques and tools for data collection, processing and verification in their research will be awarded," said MANS. -a.
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