Turkiston Palace in Tashkent hosted a solemn ceremony of awarding the winners of the International Competition for the XV National Award “Oltin Qalam” (Golden Pencil).

Deputy Chairman of the Creative Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan H. Salimov noted that large-scale reforms carried out in Uzbekistan are reflected in national journalism.

In recent years, more than 290 private and departmental Internet publications have been created in Uzbekistan. More than 1.8 thousand mass media are functioning, of which more than 60 percent are non-state media structures. The number of active websites registered as mass media on the Internet is 630.

Over the past years, more than 7,000 journalists have taken part in the competition for the “Oltin Qalam” Award, presenting more than 107,000 works of public importance. More than 290 of them became the winners of the competition. In 2020, the competition was not held due to the pandemic.

This year, the main attention was paid to holding the competition in a special format. In particular, the encouraging nomination “For the best material of a foreign journalist about Uzbekistan” was included in the list of main prizes. Another change is the placement of materials submitted for the competition in electronic form in the “Oltin Qalam-2021” section, opened on the website of the journalist.uz association, and their assessment on a 5-point system. The works of the participants were evaluated by the media, higher education institutions involved in training personnel for the sphere, press services. 

This year’s competition was attended by about 430 journalists, who submitted more than three thousand creative works. The results of the assessment on the website of the Creative Union of Journalists were taken into account when determining the winners, that is, summing up the results, as indicated in the Regulations.

The main National Award went to “Yangi O’zbekiston” newspaper for extensive coverage of the renewal processes, the results of reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan under the leadership of the President, for the publication in the newspaper of the current, critical and analytical materials that have gained public attention, as well as Dunyo Information Agency for its contribution to the wide coverage of the essence and significance of the domestic and foreign policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, to improving the image of the country in the international arena. Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bekhzod Musayev presented the prizes to the winners.

At the event, the winners were awarded special statuettes, diplomas and cash prizes.

Source: UzA