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EU Prize for Journalism 2025

EU Prize for Journalism 2025

12/02/2026

The winners of the EU Prize for Journalism 2025 have been announced.

The award ceremony for the 14th edition of the competition took place at the Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum.

Winners, finalists, and journalists who received special mentions across seven prize categories were presented with their awards and certificates by the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński.

“Journalism in Georgia today faces an uphill battle against intimidation and disinformation. The European Union remains steadfast in its commitment to media independence; we believe that a free press is not a luxury, but a vital public good. We celebrate those who continue to defend human dignity and provide a voice for the unheard, even in the face of significant legal and political constraints,” the Ambassador of the European Union said.

The winners and finalists of the 2025 are:

Best story in print or online media

Best feature story in broadcast or online media

Best investigative story/feature in print, broadcast or online media

Best blog, opinion or column in print, broadcast or online media

The most innovative and original piece of work in print, broadcast or online media

Best documentary photo reflecting shared values

Best Student work in print, broadcast or online media

The submissions were evaluated by an independent jury, with an advisory role, composed of the following media professionals:

Magda Memanishvili – journalist. In 2002, she earned a Master’s degree in Journalism from Ivane Javakhishvili State University. In 2011, she defended her doctoral dissertation at the same university, which examined political party newspapers in the First Republic of Georgia.

From 2002 to 2016, she was an active journalist and worked at various media outlets (newspapers and television). From 2007 to 2014, she worked for the investigative journalism media organization Studio Monitor.

She has been working in academia since 2004, and from 2003 to 2020, she was a member of the academic staff at Tbilisi State University. Since 2014, she has served as head of the Bachelor’s Program in Journalism at International Black Sea University and is an associate professor there.

Ekaterine Pirtskhalava with 28 years of experience in the media industry and 18 years in the educational field.She began her career as a journalist, freelancing at Rustavi-2 TV, and within a few years, became head of the radio and later, Head of TV. As a trainer and consultant, Eka has worked for organizations such as Internews, OSGF, USAID-IREX, and DW Academy, making a significant contribution to the development of independent online media.

As a lecturer, she started teaching at the Tbilisi State University, then at IBSU, and currently continues her collaboration with the Webster University.

Mamuka Andguladze is a Georgian media rights advocate and academic. He serves as the Chair of the Tbilisi-based Media Advocacy Coalition, bringing together 16 prominent non-governmental organizations to advance media freedom, journalistic rights, and pluralism. Andguladze holds both an LL.M. and a Ph.D. in Media Law from Saarland University in Germany. His academic work focuses on human rights and media law, and he has authored extensive research on media environments and journalists’ rights.  

Guram Tsibakhashvili has been lecturer of photography since 1991. He has participated in over 90 exhibitions, including around 20 solo exhibitions. He has published articles on photography and contemporary art. From 2007 to 2009, he served as a co-editor of the Amarta photo magazine. Since 2007, he has been a co-founder of the Tbilisi House of Photography. He has taught photography at two universities in Georgia: Tbilisi State University and Caucasus University. He is also a co-founder of the Container – the first photo gallery in Tbilisi.

More information is available here

The next edition of the EU Prize for Journalism will be announced on May 3, 2026.

For media contact: Tamriko Mikadze, Press and Information Officer, Delegation of the European Union to Georgia   Tamriko.Mikadze@eeas.europa.eu