On January 30th, the USAID Civil Society Strengthening Project joined the Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM) in presenting the winners of the 2007 Civil Society Media Awards. Television station Kanal 5 received the top overall award, with other winners including newspapers Utrinski Vesnik and Monitor for promoting civil society at the national and local levels, respectively, A1 television program Rano Den for the best electronic media program, and newspaper Dnevnik for the best print media.

The winners were selected through a voting process conducted between October and December 2007 among all non-governmental organizations (NGOs), citizens’ associations and foundations registered in the Republic of Macedonia. The final decision was made by a seven-member jury, comprised of prominent NGO representatives and media researchers.

The USAID Civil Society Strengthening project is implemented by a consortium led by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ICS) in partnership with MIM, the Center for Institutional Development and the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law. The project, which began in 2005, supports Macedonia’s civil society to become more effective and influential in addressing the critical issues facing the country. This is the second non-monetary annual award conducted by the project. Last year, the top prize was awarded to A1 television station, with recognitions given to Sitel TV, Utrinski Vesnik and MRTV.