Petr Vavrouška Takes Second Prize and Becomes the Best Czech Reporter in the Public Award Competition
Czech Radio’s foreign reporter, Petr Vavrouška, came second in the “Czechoslovak Public Award“ competition. This prize is awarded within the “Journalism Award 2013.“ However, he was the best of all the journalists from the Czech Republic, having gained 1,134 votes (thirty-four votes fewer than the winner).
Petr Vavrouška’s news story about Polish homosexuals was selected by the jury and included among five Czech representatives out of four hundred contributions by almost two hundred and eighty journalists. Five Czech and five Slovak programmes competed in an online vote from Monday, April 7 to April 16.
“I want to express my sincere thanks for each vote. It is wonderful how many people in both the Czech Republic and in Slovakia supported a topic that concerns Polish society. The competition certainly helped to promote Czech Radio Plus as well as the issues of sexual minorities in general. And that was the main target of the voting," says Petr Vavrouška.
“I am proud of Petr Vavrouška. He is a long-time foreign reporter who brings information about the affairs of Poland, the Baltics and Belarus. He has recently also reported news from Ukraine. The topic he chose causes a stir in Poland. And I am happy that Czech Radio has such a top-class reporter in its ranks. Congratulations and all the best,“ says Czech Radio’s Director General Peter Duhan, in appreciation of Petr Vavrouška.
“Petr Vavrouška’s success in the competition confirms his journalist qualities. After all, he was successful in the Journalism Award in the previous years and I am glad that he has managed to impress the jury as well as the public in the Czech Republic and also in Slovakia, where he is going to start working as Czech radio’s reporter in summer,“ said Tomáš Pancíř, Director of the News Service Centre, in conclusion.
The “Journalism Award 2013“ was organized by the Open Society Fund, Prague, which announced other nominations; and Czech Radio was successful in four categories.
Audiovisual Journalism category: "The Best Interview, Talk or Discussion"
Renata Kalenská: Pros and Cons – Havel (Czech Radio Plus)
Based on their own experience, suitably selected guests show the complexity of Václav Havel’s personality and his development, mentioning facts that have not been generally known up to now. The journalist leads as well as structures the interview with great perceptiveness.
Audiovisual Journalism category: “The Best News Report“
Petr Vavrouška: The Life of Homosexuals in Poland (Czech Radio Plus)
The author presents – in the best sense of the word – a balanced view of an issue that is still almost a taboo to a substantial part of the public not only in Poland. He confronts the open-mindedness of a lesbian couple with the homophobic narrow-mindedness of a female Member of Parliament, who represents a powerful clique of the intolerant Polish Catholicism.
Audiovisual Journalism category: “The Best Analytical and Investigative Contribution“
Jiří Hošek: The Football Disaster at Hillsborough (Czech Radio Plus)
This report combines high-quality analytical work with a very emotional treatment of a story, whose roots go back to the time when verified information did not reach the then Communist Czechoslovakia. The author of this radio report puts the topic into wider social context.
Audiovisual Journalism category: “Google Prize for Innovative Online Journalism“
Filip Rožánek: August 1968 for Your Computer, Reading Device and Tablet (Czech Radio)
If the last year saw an innovative Czech Internet project, it was certainly the August 1968 project, which connected social networks for historical news service in real time. The jury also appreciates the summarizing electronic publication for different platforms, which includes the continuously published outputs.
Mgr. Tereza M. Krásenská
Spokesperson of Czech Radio
Phone: +420 221 551 221
E-mail: tereza.krasenska@rozhlas.cz