On Thursday, the Association of Journalists and Publicists (Združenje novinarjev in publicistov) presented the Borut Meško Honorary Awards for the year 2022. The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award is the television presenter Vida Petrovič, “for her contribution to the democratisation of the Slovenian media space.” The Special Achievement Award went to Metod Berlec and the magazine Domovina (Homeland).
As they wrote in the explanation for the awarded prizes, Vida Petrovčič “is a versatile intellectual who has broken many taboos in Slovenian journalism.” They added that “her sovereign journalistic stance has often bothered and continues to bother many influential people, which is why she is constantly under attack.” “It is hard to imagine the national Television Slovenia over the last 35 years without Vida Petrovčič,” they added. Petrovčič is also the author of several best-selling books on weight loss, and she also organises special tourist tours of Ljubljana, lectures extensively on journalism and is a personal coach.
In a press statement, Petrovčič said she was very happy to receive the award “because I have been working for journalism and the public all my life.” Thinking back to how her work has changed over the years, she highlighted the development of technology and the constant rushing that is ever-present in today’s times. She also recalled that today, almost everyone has access to the public, so journalism will have to find a “niche” again, its meaning. When asked about the pressures she experiences, she said: “A journalist must have self-confidence. If you believe in yourself and know you are doing the right thing, everything is easy.”
The recipient of the Honorary Award for Special Achievements in Journalism is Metod Berlec, as “one of the most meritorious contributors to the development and survival of the Demokracija (Democracy) magazine as an important factor of pluralism in the Slovenian media space.” “Under his leadership, Demokracija has maintained its readership and public influence in the face of a widespread decline in print media circulation,” the statement said.
And the other recipient of the Honorary Award for Special Achievements in Journalism is the magazine Domovina. It has a circulation of 7700 copies per issue and an average of 5500 copies sold (subscribers and sales), with both circulation and sales continuing to grow, the explanation reads. The weekly Domovina was launched with a new business model: the magazine is based on the web portal, and not the other way around. The magazine publishes articles from Iskreni.net and Domovina.je, among other web portals, they said. They added that “thanks to its independent and autonomous editorial policy, the project is not backed by politicians, but by citizens.” The circulation is funded by donators, and they highlighted Aleš Štancar, who in April announced an investment of one million euros in the newly formed media group, under the umbrella of which the weekly Domovina and the web portal Domovina.je moved in early June.
The Promising Young Journalist Award was presented to Ksenija Mlinar, a journalist of the Siol web portal, who, thanks to her diligence and curiosity, “has become one of the most recognisable names of the second largest online media in Slovenia.”
Ana Horvat
