CINS Wins Three "Dejan Anastasijević" Investigative Journalism Awards

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) hosted the prestigious awards ceremony where they presented prizes for the best investigative stories of 2023. The Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia received three of the six awards.

Ten stories and one podcast were nominated for the award. The jury’s president, journalist Branko Čečen, noted that all nominated stories were of high quality and upheld the highest standards of journalistic professionalism.

CINS’s story “CINS Inside SNS’s Call Center: Hostess Agency, Vote Buying, and Millions in Cash,” authored by Ivana Milosavljević, Teodora Ćurčić, and Vladimir Kostić, won two awards: the third prize for Best Investigative Story and the Audience Award, given to the story with the highest number of votes.

The first investigative podcast in Serbia, the series “Traces, season ‘Time of Darkness’,” authored by Jovana Tomić and Stefan Marković, received special recognition.

The jury, consisting of Branko Čečen, Gordana Igrić, Mirjana Jevtović, and Saša Leković, chose BIRN’s article “Fake Payouts, Fictitious Lectures: How Millions of Euros for the Vulnerable Ended Up in Other Peoples’ Pockets” (Gordana Andrić and Aleksandar Đorđević) as the best investigative story, while second prize was awarded to KRIK’s editorial team for the story “Gendarme Vučković Gave Orders to Criminals, Destroyed Sale Mutavi’s Phones After His Murder” (Bojana Jovanović, Milica Vojinović, and Stevan Dojčinović).

In addition to the awarded stories, CINS’s investigation, “Femicide in Serbia: Crime and Lesser Punishments,” authored by Teodora Ćurčić and Jovana Tomić, was also nominated for the award.

Another special commendation was given to the story “Domestic Violence Against Children: Invisible Victims,” authored by journalists Gordana Andrić (BIRN), Dragana Prica Kovačević (Radio 021), and Teodora Ćurčić from CINS.

The “Dejan Anastasijević” Investigative Journalism Award has been presented for 19 years with the support of the US Embassy in Belgrade, and the awards ceremony was held at Dorćol Platz.