Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has presented 2023's government awards for excellence in the field of mass media.
The awards were given to senior correspondents of the diplomatic editorial team of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, Alexander Kharchenko and Sergey Shilov, a correspondent of the law enforcement agencies' editorial team Viktor Antoniuk, and the in-house photo correspondent based in Simferopol, Konstantin Mikhaltsevsky.
"Today, we have journalists and professionals from various fields here. [...] I want to call on all of you to support productive work. [...] Productive work always comes with labor; there are no miracles," noted Mishustin.
In addition, awards for coverage and analysis of events in special military operation and hotspots around the world were given to Natalya Nikonova, deputy CEO of Channel One, Natalya Krapivina, chief coordinator of special projects, producer Dmitry Suslov, and the hosts of the program "Big Game," Vyacheslav Nikonov and Dimitri Simes Sr.
Political observer Olga Skabeeva from VGTRK and the host of the TV program "60 Minutes" Evgeny Popov received the government award "for civic courage, political acumen, and successful defense of the country's interests on the information battlefront."
The Chief Producer of the Internet Broadcasting Service of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "TV-News", which is managing RT news channel, Anna Abakumova received recognition for implementing the charitable project "We Will Take It From Here," as well as for coverage of volunteer work supporting participants of the special military operation (SMO).
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin presented the 2023 Government Media Awards
© Sputnik / Dmitry Astakhov
/ Several other RT employees were recognized for their work on covering the conflict. Among them are Alexander Raskin, head of the investigations department, Anna Knishenko, host of social media broadcasting programs, Igor Zhdanov, correspondent, Klim Poplavsky, executive producer, and Lydia Mizieva, head of the government relations department.
Mishustin also awarded:
Employees of the "Zvezda" news channel for professionalism and courage in covering the special military operation;
Representatives of the "Open Systems" publishing house for implementing the "Literary Odyssey" project and active work with the educational community;
Employees of the "Satkinsky Rabochy" newspaper for the development of historical and local lore topics and the implementation of the socially significant ecological project "Save Your Land";
Employees of the "Sovetsky Sakhalin" newspaper for the implementation of the "Sung Islands" project and contribution to the development of regional journalism, preservation of traditions, and promotion of educational projects aimed at preserving historical memory and patriotic education of youth.
The Editor-in-chief of Rossiya 24 Evgeny Bekasov was honored with an award for high professionalism in providing informational broadcasting for the channel.
Additionally, the authors of the information-analytical program "Postscriptum" on "TV Tsentr" were awarded for its 25th anniversary, recognizing their significant contribution to the development of information-analytical broadcasting. Among them is Senator Alexei Pushkov, the program's director and host.
Representatives of NTV channel received an award for successfully addressing tasks related to increasing television viewing figures, in connection with the 30th anniversary of the joint-stock company NTV Television Company.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin presented the 2023 Government Media Awards
© Sputnik / Dmitry Astakhov
/ Employees of REN TV were recognized with an award for creating a project aimed at popularizing science.
The PM also presented awards to:
Representatives of the Russian State Musical TV and Radio Center for creating and developing the multifunctional digital media platform "Orpheus";
Employees of "Multimedia Holding" and "Nashe Radio" for supporting contemporary Russian music;
ITAR-TASS journalists for their systematic and successful coverage of the activities of state authorities in transforming the country's economy under sanctions and geopolitical turbulence.
Employees of the Russian State Children's Library became laureates of the award for developing the guidebook "Biblioguide" for children and teenagers and the all-Russian encyclopedia of children's literature "ProDetLit," while the administrator of the "Made by Us" website was recognized for creating a portal dedicated to Russian achievements.
He thanked the participants of the special military operation and war correspondents working in hotspots. Their efforts enable the entire country to engage in this productive work.
"Speaking of this, it is impossible not to mention our president. He leads the way in this sense and shows us the path. [...] His support, government leadership – that is the key to those miracles. But in reality, it is the result of tremendous work, and by the way, our president acknowledged this, the work of our people," added the official.
The prime minister also thanked the media for the increased interest in them during these challenging times and urged them to remain competitive and fight for the audience.