The Winners of the 14th Edition of the ‘Valya Krushkina – Journalism for the People’ Competition

The Valya Krushkina Fund under the Civic Initiatives Workshop Foundation presented the fourteenth media awards ‘Valya Krushkina – Journalism for the People‘. The names of the awarded journalists were announced at an official ceremony held on December 3 at Pi point – a space for art and culture, Sofia.

We at the Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association (BFPA) have supported the competition since its founding in 2012. We are particularly pleased that in its fourteenth edition, the awards were presented by people from the civil sector.

In the category ‘Writing Journalist‘ first place went to Yanka Petkova from OFFNews.bg for the investigation ‘Yes! For Life!’ or ‘Yes! For Money!’: How 430,000 BGN Melted Away in 3 Months to Promote Donation’, which reveals how a state campaign spent hundreds of thousands of BGN without transparent reporting and without a demonstrable public effect.

The award for ‘Electronic Media Journalist‘ was given to Maya Dimitrova from the Bulgarian National Television for the film ‘Architects of Chaos’, which shows the mechanisms for manipulating public opinion through disinformation and propaganda and their impact on modern society.

Zhivko Konstantinov, a freelance journalist, received the award in the category ‘Photojournalist‘. The distinction is for the photo report “For the First Time, Bulgarians Set Foot on the Hard-to-Access Smith Island in Antarctica’ – a story about the first Bulgarian expedition to one of the most inaccessible islands in Antarctica and the scientific work of the team.

This year, the Valya Krushkina Grand Prize went to Milena Kirova from Bulgarian National Television for the article ‘The Missing Votes: Is There a Vote Shift from ‘Majesty’ to Other Parties?’ – an in-depth analysis of electoral processes in which there are risks of opaque mechanisms capable of influencing actual political representation.

Traditionally, the awarded journalists received the glass inkwell in the shape of a pear – a statuette created by the artist Elena Kitova, which has been a symbol of the competition for years.

The ‘Valya Krushkina – Journalism for the People‘ awards are held for the fourteenth consecutive year and honor journalists who stand up for the truth, protect the public interest and maintain a high standard of the profession.

Over the years, more than 620 journalists and over 1,400 materials have been nominated – proof that the awards, bearing the name of Valya Krushkina, are not just a competition, but a standard of integrity, a symbol of professionalism and a reminder of journalism that serves citizens.

The initiative is part of the activities of the Valya Krushkina Foundation, established under the Civic Initiatives Workshop Foundation.