The collaborator of the Government's Office for Slovenians Abroad, Rudi Merljak, was also present at the award giving ceremony.

The Josip Jurčič Fund presented the awards for extraordinary achievements in journalism in Ljubljana today. The 2009 award was awarded to the Finance journalist Stanislav Kovač, who received the award already in 1994, and the RAI journalist from Trieste, Ivo Jevnikar. Kovač views the award as a confirmation of his activity in the field of journalism, while Jevnikar believes it presents recognition of the media operating in neighbouring countries.

Kovač started his carrier as a journalist writing for a weekly paper, Mladina. He continued his carrier by writing for the paper Mag where he remained employed until the paper was taken over by the Newspaper House Delo. Since 2003, he has been publishing his texts as a columnist in the business newspaper Finance.
As stated in the explanation, Kovač "has proved his independence from the outside sources and expressed criticism towards political and business women and men of influence, whoever these have been, throughout his activity in the field of journalism. With his perseverance to maintain journalistic autonomy he is a model for his younger colleagues, while giving his readers and the Slovenian society something that is a prerequisite for prosperity and freedom: critical supervision over women and men of power, and a neutral information on important matters".

His work meets the mentioned characteristics of a professional journalism. Kovač's columns are based on a traceable piece of information and thorough analysis. His statements are often hard in regard to those persons he writes about. But they are also solid. They are based on facts and not on vague opinions or hidden loyalty ties. But the provision of facts and analytical writing does not limit the author to be understandable in his writing", is also written in the explanation.

As stated by Kovač for the Slovenian Press Agency, to him the award received represents the recognition of his work in the field of journalism and his co-creation of media democracy in Slovenia. In his opinion, media democracy is namely a "guarantor of political democracy which provides personal and economic freedom".
Regarding the state of the media in Slovenia, Kovač believes that in the past months the conditions occurred which »until now, have brought the greatest pressures to bear on the media by the politics, various lobbies and other groups connected with the most recent affairs«. "It seems to me that, in comparison to the past 20 years, media democracy is threatened the most right now; that it is why it is up to the media to resist any forms of political and particularly capital pressures on media freedom", he added.

Ivo Jevnikar is a radio journalist, an author and a chronicler who has been working for RAI in Trieste for a quarter of a century. As stated, he takes care of providing Slovenians living in North-East Italy with current news on political, social, economic and cultural goings-on. He is mainly interested in the most recent history of the Primorska region and history of the people living in this area – their stories are sometimes astonishing and touching, their ambitions and illusions have often turned into tragedies.

"Ivo Jevnikar blazes his Krast trail with a combination of journalistic and historical methods. He starts with listening to and continues with conversations, interviews, confrontations, correspondence – all of this is then enriched and complemented by sources from the archives and other printed media. With his long-standing activity of this kind he has created an extensive area of knowledge which he shares unselfishly also with competitors", is stated in the explanation.

Immediately when Jevnikar found out about the award, he asked himself whether he really deserved such an award. "But when I listen to the explanation written by the Fund's management board I realized that we are connected by important topics such as national existence, fight against totalirism and fight for human rights," he said to the SPA. He views the award as an acknowledgement to people who deal with the media in neighbouring countries, but also as the strengthening of "our common space". "We who live in neighbouring countries, we live under special conditions, somewhere at dead guard of the Slovenian identity where a lot of beautiful things happen but there are also many problems. That is why the attention given to this part is highly welcomed," he said.

Source: STA