Winners of annual journalism contest on women’s role in Armenia announced

YEREVAN, 31 January 2011 - The award ceremony of an OSCE-supported annual journalism competition Na/Ne (S\HE) focusing on the role and achievements of women in Armenia was held  in Yerevan today.

The annual Na/Ne (S/HE) contest co-organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the British Council, the British Embassy in Yerevan, the United Nations Population Fund and telecommunications company VivaCell MTS brought together state officials, representatives from international organizations, civil society and media.

Around 130 submissions were received from journalists working in Armenian print, online and audio-visualmediak, A jury composed of media and gender experts selected winners in seven categories, including best photo story, blog posts and social/commercial advertisements on gender.

“The contest continues to inspire journalists to take a critical look at the society from the gender perspective, and create reports that provoke thoughts and can bring about changes in attitudes,” said Carel Hofstra, the Deputy Head of the OSCE office in Yerevan. “Such initiatives are among most effective and interesting ways to promote gender equality and the OSCE commitments in this area”.

The contest winners are Armine Gevorgyan from Hay radio, Gohar Hakobyan from Aravot newspaper, a blogger for www.ankakh.com Anna Muradyan, Status Holding company for the best commercial advertisement and a photojournalist Inna Mkhitaryan working for www.medialab.am. Among TV journalists, winners are Sona Abrahamyan, a journalist of Banadzev company, and Ani Stepanyan, a reporter of Emergency Channel.  Seda Stepanyan, a student from Brusov State University became a winner in the new category, “Student journalistic report”.

The contest winners received a Na/Ne award and certificates.