Submission Deadline for Dragan Janjic Media Prize Extended

Dragan Janjic (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)

The deadline for submissions in the contest for a media literacy prize in journalism named in honor of Dragan Janjic, the late founder of the Beta News Agency and the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, has been extended until April 30, it was announced on April 17.

This is the fifth iteration of the contest in honor of Janjic, called by BETA and the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia. As in previous years, two prizes will be awarded -- to students of undergraduate and graduate degrees, and students of postgraduate degrees at all faculties in Serbia and media professionals.

Each prize is worth RSD160,000 each gross. Works produced individually or by teams may be entered. The purpose of the contest is to award work intended to familiarize the broader public with the area of media literacy through an interdisciplinary approach and by using various multimedia tools. The submitted pieces may be critical reviews themed on media literacy, like the historic development of media literacy, the importance of media literacy to contemporary democracies, the challenges of media literacy in contemporary society, or cover the key ideas, theories and principles of media literacy.

The media literacy prizes are awarded in honor of Dragan Janjic, the founder of the Beta News Agency and the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, who died on Dec. 31, 2020, aged 64. Janjic began his career as a journalist at the Tanjug wire service. With a group of colleagues he later established BETA, where he twice served as editor-in-chief. He was deputy minister of culture and information, deputy editor-in-chief of the Politika daily, and media adviser to the ombudsman from 2010 to 2016. Janjic's career as a journalist was distinguished by a constant struggle toward the professionalization of journalism, insistence on ethical standards and advancement of the media landscape. Colleagues remember him as a principled person dedicated to objective journalism, which he considered democracy's fourth pillar.