Romuald Mieczkowski is a winner of the Maciej Płażyński Award

Journalists from Poland, Lithuania, Canada and Russia are the winners of this year’s edition of the Maciej Płażyński Award for journalists and media serving the Polish diaspora. The journalists from the Czech Republic and Moldova received honorable mention. The jury selected the winners from 116 nominations received from 22 countries.

The prize for the Journalist of a Polish Diaspora’s Medium category was awarded to Romuald Mieczkowski from the editorial staff of „Znad Wilii” quarterly for the highest level of journalism, objectivity and professionalism, for interesting way of reporting on the life of the Polish people in Lithuania and fostering Polish-Lithuanian dialog.

Malwina Wrotniak-Chałada became the winner in the Domestic Journalist Writing About the Polish Diaspora category for her series of reports entitled „Tam mieszkam” [“I live there”] presented on the website bankier.pl, which shows the ups and downs of lives of the Polish people who have emigrated.

Irmina Somers received the award in the Foreign Journalist Writing about the Polish Diaspora category for her series of the television program “OK! Poland” broadcast on television in Canada, which presents modern and positive image of the Polish people and changes stereotyped perception of the Polish diaspora in North America. Moreover, Renata Bilanova from the Czech television received honorable mention for her reports and information materials on the Polish minority in the Czech Republic.

In the Editorial Staff of a Polish Diaspora’s Medium category, the prize went to “Rodacy”, a Siberian quarterly of the Congress of Poles in Russia, for the comprehensiveness of the topics tackled including telling about the history, reporting on everyday life of the Polish community in Russia and commemorating destiny of the Polish people in Russia. What is more, the editorial staff of “Jutrzenka”, a monthly of the Polish people in Moldova, received honorable mention for fostering culture and Polish tradition despite social, cultural, political and religious barriers.

The winners were selected by the jury comprising of: Jakub Płażyński (Chairman), Andrzej Grzyb (Senator of the Republic of Poland, representative of the Marshall of the Senate), Jarosław Gugała (Polsat TV), Jerzy Haszczyński (“Rzeczpospolita”), Małgorzata Naukowicz (Polish Radio) and Karolina Grabowicz-Matyjas (Director of the Emigration Museum, Secretary of the Jury).

The Maciej Płażyński Award honors the work of journalists and media serving the Polish diaspora. The intention of its initiators is to remind the Polish people of life and accomplishments of the Award’s patron – an anticommunist opposition activist, the first non-communist voivode of Gdańsk, Marshal of Sejm of the Republic of Poland and Vice-Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, the chairman of the Association “Polish Community”, a man of wide horizons and far-sighted view of Poland and the world.

The prize is awarded annually for journalistic work in the preceding year in four categories: Journalist of a Polish Diaspora’s Medium, Domestic Journalist Writing About the Polish Diaspora, Foreign Journalist Writing About the Polish Diaspora, and Editorial Staff of a Polish Diaspora’s Medium. Awards in each of three journalistic categories include a statuette and a cash prize of PLN 10 000. An award in the Editorial Staff of a Polish Diaspora’s Medium category includes a statuette.

The Maciej Płażyński Award for journalists and media serving the Polish diaspora was conceived by Press Club Polska, Jakub Płażyński, the presidents of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot, the Marshal of the Pomorskie Province and the Pomorska Foundation. The Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became honorary patrons of the Award.

The award will be presented on 12^th April 2014 in Gdynia.

Source: http://zw.lt/wilno-wilenszczyzna/romuald-mieczkowski-laureatem-nagrody-im-macieja-plazynskiego/

Tłumaczenie by Martyna Kołtun w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Martyna Kołtun within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.