This competition was established on the occasion of 3 May – World Press Freedom Day. 

The award ceremony was attended by members of the Senate of Oliy Majlis (parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan, deputies of the Legislative Chamber, representatives of ministries and departments, creative and public organizations and representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations in this country. 

C.Hakimov, the chairman of the contest organization committee and chairman of the Journalists Creative Union of Uzbekistan, and others said that work started at the initiative of First President Islam Karimov to reform the country’s media sphere, to turn it into the fourth estate, to strengthen its material base and to upgrade personnel’s qualifications was being continued consistently today. 

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s noble efforts to further develop all the spheres of society’s life, to protect the national interests and to create decent living conditions for Uzbekistan’s people have met with their approval. 

Thanks to special attention being given to the media sphere, the number of mass media outlets is rising. Nongovernmental mass media outlets account for 53 per cent of the country’s print media and 85 per cent of its television and radio channels. More than 330 websites have been registered as mass media outlets, and most of them belong to the nongovernmental media sector. 

The Oltin qalam national award competition prompts journalists to be more active and to look objectively at events. 

In recent years, within the framework of the contest, nearly 80 thousand creative works of more than 5,500 journalists were examined, and 237 of them became winners of this contest. 

In this year’s Oltin qalam contest, 520 journalist participated with nearly 9,500 reports. This contest was conducted in such areas as television, radio, print media and online journalism, and one main prize and three prizes for each of the areas and also “for the best photo report” and “the best press service” prizes were up for grabs. 

As part of the event, prizes from the council of the Uzbekistan Trade Unions Federation and the public foundation for supporting and developing independent print media and news agencies were also awarded. 

The editorial board of the Tafakkur magazine won the main national prize. A special diploma, an “Oltin qalam” badge, a statuette and a monetary prize amounting to 200 times the minimum wage were awarded to the winner team. 

“Oltin qalam is a prize that symbolises the people’s admiration,” says Erkin Azam, the chief editor of the Tafakkur magazine and people’s writer of Uzbekistan. 

Diplomas, gifts and monetary prizes were given to the competition’s winners and runners-up. There was a concert by artistes and young performers. 

T.Norboyeva, deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan, made a speech at the event.