ACF Announces Winners of 2024 Red Line Journalism Against Corruption Awards
The Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) has announced the winners of its 2024 Red Line Journalism Against Corruption Award. The awards ceremony was held on 9 December, International Anti-Corruption Day, at the Odeon Cinema in Sofia.
Five journalists, selected from 43 nominations, were celebrated in four categories: Investigative Journalism, Rule of Law, Regional Journalism, and Young Journalist.
Yoan Zaprianov, from Capital, received the award for Investigative Journalism for his series about the Historical Park, a tourist attraction which has served as the foundation for a far-right political party. Zaprianov’s work has shed light on new aspects of the functioning of the Historical Park such as its lack of financial viability and the cult-like features of the community associated with it.
Content creator Lyubomir Zhechev was awarded in the Rule of Law category for his systematic efforts to raise awareness about the topic. Zhechev’s videos present issues of high public interest in an engaging manner. He has investigated the suspicions of a pyramid scheme involving the Historical Park, a tourist attraction near the city of Varna and the attack of a 19-year-old client of the popular Kite Bar by a security guard from the company Delta Guard. Mr. Zhechev has also highlighted the case of Saudi dissident Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi who has been denied asylum by the Bulgarian authorities.
“Lyubomir Zhechev is reaching new audiences, thus contributing to public debate and the efforts to promote the rule of law,” said Sofia Zheleva, a member of the awards jury.
Venelina Popova from the network for regional journalism Za Istinata received the award for regional journalism. Ms. Popova has worked to raise public awareness about the network of political and corporate interests harming the interests of Galabovo Municipality. Following the publication of one of Ms. Popova’s articles about vote-buying, she was verbally attacked on social media by Galabovo’s mayor Nickolay Tonev. The attack and the vulgar comments used by Mr. Tonev provoked strong reactions from media outlets and civic organizations, defending the journalist.
Damyana Veleva from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty received the award in the category Young Journalist for her investigation into the mayor of the town of Dospat. The investigation exposes how, for years, all business activity in the town is controlled by the mayor Elin Radev and members of his family or people close to him.
The winners were selected by a jury which included: Veselin Stoynev, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the magazine BGlobal, Yonko Grozev, an attorney and former judge in the European Court of Human Rights, Maria Cheresheva, Chairperson of the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria, Myhailina Pavlova, a journalist with the Bulgarian National Radio, and Sofia Cheleva, member of the legal team of ACF.
Also attending the ceremony was Nathaniel Copsey, British Ambassador to Bulgaria, who presented an additional award to Damyana Veleva, the winner in the Young Journalist category.
“The media’s ability to investigate corruption and alert society is not just an obligation for journalists but a need for society,” said Ambassador Nathaniel Copsey. “Journalists are the defenders of democracy who firmly guard high standards.”
Boyko Stankushev, Director of ACF, said that this year, as in previous years, many of the nominated journalists were pressured because of their work.
“Sadly, investigative journalists in Bulgaria continue to work in a difficult and sometimes even dangerous environment. Attacks such as the one against Venelina Popova are unacceptable,” said Stankushev. “Public institutions and the whole of society are obliged to defend journalists and their work since, by doing so, they are also defending the right of all citizens to be informed and to participate fully in society.”
The Red Line Journalism Against Corruption Awards are organized with the support of the America for Bulgarian Foundation.
