The winners of the of the all-Russian contest for journalists “Climate Change – a Hot Topic” have been announced today. The contest was organized by the Russian Regional Environmental Centre under the sponsorship of the British Embassy in Moscow and was aimed at enhancement of professional coverage of the climate change issues in mass-media, as well as at attraction of general public attention to the problem. All photographs, stories, tele- and radio-materials, issued or having been on the air in Russia in 2007 were admitted to the contest. A jury of experts, professional environmental journalists and photographers assessed the media and photo materials on climate change issue submitted for the competition.

Andrey Bezlepkin became the winner of the “best photo” nomination. His shooting in Astrakhan region perfectly demonstrated the dangers of the climate change: parched lakes, meadows, turned into deserted areas and etc…

The “best story” prize was given to Yuri Eldyshev and his article “Climate Change: Consequences and Counteractions”, published in the “Ecology and Life” magazine.

In the “best television or radio material” nomination the prize was given to the journalists of the “City-FM” radiostation (Ekaterinburg) – Alena Nurzhigitova and Anastasia Nekrasova with their report: “The Global warming” .

The winners in each nomination will receive a prize of 15,000 RUB.

Moreover, special prize goes to the following participants:

In “best photo” nomination:
Valentina Palkina (Permskaya Oblast) – “The Scenery of the Future”
Mikhail Chuprasov (Novokuznetsk) – “The Factory of Grey Clouds”

In the “best story” nomination:
Mikhail Yulkin (Moscow) – for profound understanding of the problem and interesting presentation of material
Oleg Izyumenko (Lund, Sweden) – for bright presentation of urgent issues
Ekaterina Stetyuha (Volgograd) – for the best title

All prizewinning materials have been uploaded to the RREC web-page dedicated to the “Media-training” project.