UNDP launches, for the second year in a row, a contest for the best journalistic investigations on corruption issues

The contest of journalistic investigations shall be opened, starting from 11 April 2017 until 30 October 2017. A jury formed of professionals from mass-media and experts from the anticorruption field shall examine the admitted works and shall designate the winning investigations.

The journalistic investigations registered for the contest shall refer to corruption facts, traffic of influence, conflicts of interest, mismanagement of public funds and public property, integrity of the dignitaries, undeclared property and businesses, organized crime and money laundry schemes, etc.

The evaluation of received publications/materials will be based on:

• the complexity of the investigation;
• quality of the documentation;
• originality of the subject and its social value;
• instruments for data presentation and visualization,
• compliance with the professional and ethical standards in the documentation process and information-gathering.

The contest will accept journalistic investigations carried out and published/broadcasted from January to October 2017.

Each applicant (either individually or a team of authors) can submit a maximum of 3 investigations.

For each of the three categories, there will be three awarded prizes:

• Prize I – a video camera;
• Prize II – a laptop;
• Prize III – a professional photo camera.

The publications/materials can be submitted in electronic form (the link to the publication), printed, audio and video form to the following e-mail address: olga.crivoliubic@undp.org with the subject line Contest for the best journalistic investigations on corruption issues. These can be also sent by post or brought in a sealed envelope to the following address: Str. 31 august 131, UNDP-Moldova with the inscription Contest for the best journalistic investigations on corruption issues. Contact person Olga Crivoliubic, Project Manager, UNDP Moldova.

The award ceremony will take place during the Annual Anticorruption Conference, held traditionally on 9 December 2017, on the International Anticorruption Day.

The National Integrity and Anticorruption Strategy 2017-2020 adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on March 31, 2017, recognizes that civil society and media play an important role in the national integrity system and can contribute to the efficient implementation of the Strategy through independent and impartial monitoring, as well as impartially informing the society on the system deficiencies.

The investigative journalists are contributing to the disclosure of corruption of frauds, conflicts of interest and organized crime. Journalist investigations contribute to the information of citizens and formation of public opinion on corruption perception as a negative and shameful social phenomenon, but also to the increase of transparency of governance process and public patrimony management, as well as contributes to the accountability of civil servants and dignitaries. Often this results in the notification of the law enforcement bodies and initiation of investigations.