Oslobođenje
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Oslobođenje (English translation: Liberation) is a popular Sarajevo newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Oslobođenje newspaper was founded August 30, 1943 [link] as an anti-Nazi newspaper. Currently, it is owned by its employees and their German partner. [link]
During the Bosnian war and the Siege of Sarajevo, the Oslobođenje staff operated out of a makeshift newsroom in a bomb shelter after its 10-story office building had been targeted and reduced to rubble. The war left five staff members dead and 25 wounded.[link] In 1993, it was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The editors of Oslobođenje, Kemal Kurspahić and Gordana Knezević, were named International Editors of the Year for 1993 by the World Press Review for their "bravery, tenacity, and dedication to the principles of journalism." [link] During the war, its staff of Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats of Muslim, Orthodox Christian, and Roman Catholic faiths, managed to print the paper every day except for one. It was due to its multicultural staff and character that it was specially targeted by the Serbian army. [link]
Excerpt from Gordana Knezević's article in The Toronto Star from April 11, 1999:
"The reason my newspaper, Oslobodenje, was targeted and its building turned into rubble was because its multi-ethnic staff - composed of Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Catholics and other people who couldn't even define their ethnic background - not only worked together, but slept together in an underground shelter, safe from Serb guns that encircled the city. Beneath those guns, we managed to put out our paper every single day of the three-year siege. As a consequence, Srna, the Serb television network in Bosnia, labeled all of us Serb journalists still working inside Sarajevo ``traitors.'' "
Awards and Recognitions[
- The Paper of the Year in 1989 (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
- The Paper of the Year Award in 1992 (BBC and Granada TV - Great Britain)
- Freedom Award in 1993 (Dagens nyheter-Stockholm and Politiken Copenhagen)
- Oscar Romero Award 1993 (The Rothko Chapel - Houston, Texas)
- Nieman Foundation's Louis M. Lyons Award for conscience and integrity in journalism in 1993 (Harvard University - USA)
- Achievements in Journalism Award in 1993 (Inter Press Service - Rome)
- Andrei Sakharov Award for Human Rights 1993 (European Parliament - Strasbourg, France)
External links
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