Uzbekistan hosted the thirteenth “Golden Pen” international competition

Winners of the international competition for the XIII National award in journalism “Oltin Qalam” (“Golden Pen”), established in connection with May 3 – World Press Freedom Day, were awarded in Turkiston Palace, in Tashkent.

In this regard, members of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, deputies of the Legislative Chamber, representatives of media structures of all categories, professors and teachers of higher education institutions, young artists, representatives of diplomatic corps and representative offices of international organizations accredited in Uzbekistan were invited to attend the event.

The international competition for the National award “Oltin Qalam” was held by the Creative Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan and the Center for Retraining Journalists in cooperation with the Public Fund for Support and Development of Independent Print Media and News Agencies, the National TV and Radio Company, the Ministry of Culture, the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions, Uzreport Information Agency.

There are more than 1500 mass media in Uzbekistan. Non-governmental media account for 53 percent of print media and 85 percent of TV and radio channels. More than 330 websites are registered as mass media, 98 percent of which are also operating in non-governmental sector.

Over the past years, about 90 000 creative works of more than 6000 journalists were considered in “Oltin Qalam” competition. 260 journalists became winners of the competition. Cash awards totaling 1 billion 570 million sums were allocated for holding these competitions and rewarding the winners. In addition, more than 80 journalists have received awards, established by representative offices of prestigious international organizations operating in the country, such as the UN, UNESCO, OSCE, the World Bank, UNAIDS, USAID, the Regional Dialogue Organization (Slovenia), and others.

Uzbekistan hosted the thirteenth “Golden Pen” international competition

In the current competition, 523 journalists submitted about 7100 materials for the XIII National award “Oltin Qalam”. According to the decision of the jury members, the Main National Prize of the competition was not awarded to anyone. Among the competition participants, winners in the fields of television, radio, print media and Internet publications, as well as holders of incentive awards were identified.

Uzbekistan hosted the thirteenth “Golden Pen” international competition

The costs associated with competition and awarding winners have been financed from “Ilhom” public fund.

The awards were also presented by UNESCO, the delegation of the European Union in Uzbekistan, the branch of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), the USAID Program on TB Control, representative offices of such international organizations as DVV International (Germany), Goethe Institute, “Regional Dialogue” (Slovenia) in Uzbekistan, embassies of the USA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the People’s Republic of China, as well as national partners – the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan, the Public Fund for Support and Development of Independent Print Media and News Agencies.

UzA