Skopje, 30 April 2025 (MIA) — The Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia awarded Wednesday a story titled "Air Pollution in Macedonia Claims 5,000 Lives a Year, As If We Were in a War" written by Sunchica Nikolovska (Macedonian Radio Television), Mirjana Mirchevska Jovanovikj (Kanal 5) and Pelagija Mladenovska (Investigative Reporting Lab). The story was published by the Institute of Communication Studies on its doma.edu.mk website.

Bitola's TV Tera reporter Divna Grdanova Karadzhovska won second place for her report on the endemic Macedonian pine, titled "How to Save the Molika Tree." MRT's Katerina Topalova and Fokus's Orce Kostov received certificates of recognition. Boris Grdanovski from Nezavisen won the best photo award.

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, May 3, the event was organized to "remind citizens and journalists how valuable freedom of expression is," council chair Biljana Georgievska said. She urged both state and world leaders to honor their promises of fostering a climate of free media, without political or business interference.

This year's competition, sponsored by the EU Delegation in North Macedonia, focused on the climate emergency. Georgievska said organizers received around 30 stories by 25 authors. The winners were decided by a panel of judges made up of Fokus editor-in-chief Irena Mulachka, environmental activist and City of Skopje councillor Gorjan Jovanovski, and Georgievska.

EU Ambassador Michalis Rokas, handing out the awards, said the EU recognized reporters who were investigating topics of public interest to all Europeans.

"North Macedonia in recent years saw some serious floods, natural disasters, fires, not to mention the air polution here — and since the country relies on coal for energy, it is taking its toll, too," he said, urging environmental action.

Rokas also highlighted the need to push back against disinformation in the media. He said that, first, as readers, "we need to educate ourselves before educating others." Second, he said, people should recognize reliable sources of information. "And third, we need to talk about our challenges every time we face them," the ambassador said.

"We have to advocate for stronger protection and our right to true information," he said. "Today we are celebrating the journalists who are guided by these principles and who, through their work, are building trust."

The awards were given as part of the EU-supported UNESCO project "Building Trust in Media in South-East Europe: Support to Journalism as a Public Good." mr/

Photo and video: MIA