The idea of the “People and Kilometers” team has been found the most innovative and most practical media project produced by the graduates of the School of Advanced Journalism (SAJ). The prize granted, EUR 750, will contribute to strengthening the independent media space in Moldova.

The Best Media Project Contest was launched in late September at the conference dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the SAJ. The over 160 graduates had two months to submit materials. The projects were evaluated based on three key criteria: originality and novelty of idea, practical component and sustainability. There were no restrictions as to the topic except that the project had to be interesting, useful and have impact with the public. The materials were examined by a jury of seven experts, including five SAJ trainers. Five of them opted for the idea proposed by “People and Kilometers”, and their main argument was the fact that it is the most viable project of all.

The “People and Kilometers” online platform is a new journalistic project launched in autumn 2016. According to the project’s founders, materials published with the help of the grant offered by the Independent Journalism Center will continue bringing to the focus the “diseases” of our society. “We follow the protagonists of our materials for weeks or even months. We do it in order to better understand social phenomena. Our editorial niche is depth. We create stories, and we believe that stories combined with classical journalism will change the world. The fact that we were named the best media project is further proof that we are going the right way,” said journalist Polina Cupcea.  

The winner was announced on December 16 at the Gala of the Press organized by the IJC and the Press Freedom Committee. Out of the four members of the “People and Kilometers” team, three are SAJ graduates: Polina Cupcea and Raisa Razmerita graduated the School in 2013, and Nicolae Cuschevici in 2008. All three have experience in journalism and had previously worked with such publications as “Ziarul de Garda”, “Ziarul National”, “Adevarul Moldova”. They also did several journalistic investigations in collaboration with RISE Moldova.