Vienna – ESI in jury of BIRN Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence

22 May 2024
Kristof Bender. Photo: Joanna Pianka/eSeL.at
Kristof Bender. Photo: Joanna Pianka/eSeL.at

On 22 May 2024 the jury of the BIRN Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, of which ESI's Kristof Bender is a member, met in Vienna to award the prizes for the 2022 cohort of the fellowship.

The first prize went to Polish journalist Tadeusz Michrowski for a story about the decline of coastal fisheries on the Polish coast. North Macedonian journalist David Ilieski won the second prize for his story about how the gambling industry has taken over the country. The award for the third place went to Andrei Popoviciu, a Romanian journalist who produced a story about how a tech boom in the city of Cluj-Napoca has led to a surge in real-estate prices that is squeezing out everyone who does not work in tech (to be published soon).

In this programme every year ten journalists from Eastern and Southeastern Europe are chosen and awarded a fellowship to spend months pursuing in-depth stories and investigations, working closely with Neil Arun, a highly experienced editor. The stories of all fellows are available at the site of the fellowship programme, which is supported by Erste Foundation.