Moscow- 25-27 October 2025

In Moscow, the names of the winners of the IV International Media Award “Honest View” for foreign journalists and bloggers were announced. More than 100 journalists from all over the world took part in the ceremony.

The ceremony was a highlight in a series of events of the International Cooperation Forum dedicated to the 100th anniversary of people’s diplomacy, celebrated in 2025 in the Russian Federation.

“Writing and filming honestly about Russia today is an act that requires courage. Honesty in general requires courage. We came up with this story together with our friends, the leading Russian media that are partners of the contest today, in order to say “thank you” to journalists from all over the world for their honesty and integrity. All those who came to this ceremony today are grateful to you, first of all!” said Yevgeny Primakov, Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, welcoming the participants of the award ceremony.

The 2025 Media Award collected 821 applications from participants from 75 countries, including the CIS countries, Africa, Asia, Western Europe, North and South America. The number of applications and participants is increasing every year, and the values of 2025 have become a record for the entire time of the event.

The Grand Prix of the VI International Media Award “Honest View” was awarded to the journalist of the Serbian TV channel “Balkan Trip” Boško Kozarski. Boško is a TV presenter and public figure, the author of documentary television projects about travels “Bodybuilder” (“Cultural Tourist”) and “Oaza” (“Oasis”), which are broadcast on the main Serbian educational channel “Balka Trip” with an audience of more than 7 million viewers).

Since 2022, Boško Kozarski, with the support of the Russian House in Belgrade, has been working on a special project about traveling around Russia “Bodybuilder in Russia”, the purpose of which is to promote the Russian language, as well as a positive image of Russia as a modern actively developing country with a rich historical and cultural heritage among a multi-million Serbian and Balkan audience.

“We are opening Russia to a huge audience in Serbia and beyond. We talk about the scale of this country and the truly endless opportunities for tourism and new sensations. We know our audience, we know that our work is in demand and it is especially pleasant that we have received this high recognition now from Russia,” says Boško Kozarski.

Since 2022, Boško Kozarski, with the support of the Russian House in Belgrade, has been working on a special project about traveling around Russia “Bodybuilder in Russia”, the purpose of which is to promote the Russian language, as well as a positive image of Russia as a modern actively developing country with a rich historical and cultural heritage among a multi-million Serbian and Balkan audience.

“We are opening Russia to a huge audience in Serbia and beyond. We talk about the scale of this country and the truly endless opportunities for tourism and new sensations. We know our audience, we know that our work is in demand and it is especially pleasant that we have received this high recognition now from Russia,” says Boško Kozarski.

More than two hundred applications were received for the competition in the nomination Best Material in the Genre of Journalism and Documentary. The winner was a TV journalist from India, Manish Kumar Jha. Manish Kumar is a senior journalist and executive editor of TV9 Bharatvarsh, India’s largest news channel with an audience of more than 700 million people. Manish Kumar has 20 years of experience and hundreds of reports from more than 25 countries, including war sites, global summits and high-level diplomatic meetings.

The finalists in the nomination Best Material in the genre of journalism and documentary were Viktor Skripnichenko, correspondent of the Kazakh online publication “Ustinka LIVE” and Samvel Aleksanyan, editor-in-chief of the leading print and online publication of the South of Armenia “Sunyats Yerkir”.

The Best Material on International Cultural, Social or Humanitarian Partnership with Russia nomination became the most popular among the participants of the 2025 Media Award. It collected 272 applications – more than a third of the total volume of materials received this year.

The victory in this category was awarded to Corona Perer, author of the independent Italian publication Giornale Sentire. Korona is the winner of three national journalism awards and the author of six books. She says about herself that she likes to write about the culture that unites peoples.

The finalists in the nomination were Taras (Tariel) Gagnidze, journalist of the publication “Georgia and the World” and Belvia Esperanza Refeibona from the Central African Republic, editor-in-chief of the publication Oubangui Médias.

The winner in the nomination Best Reportage was journalist Givi Peikrishvili, stringer-cameraman of the Ruptly video agency in Georgia. Daulet Kusheev, a reporter from the Ruptly video agency in Kazakhstan, and Mirbek Moldakunov, a presenter of the round-the-clock news channel of Kyrgyzstan “Ala-Too 24”, reached the final of the nomination.

The Best Material on the topic of public diplomacy is timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the great work aimed at building bridges of friendship between Russia and other countries. 134 articles on this topic were accepted by the Organizing Committee, and the victory was awarded to the staff of the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The award was accepted by the representative of the journalistic team Meng Jin.

Honorable places in the final of the nomination were taken by Ahmed Naji, correspondent of the Moroccan daily newspaper L’Opinion des jeunes (Opinion of the Youth) and creator of the Italian edition of the Gothic Network, Patrizia Boy.

The Best Material of Young Journalists about the Russian Federation nomination traditionally brings together young authors from all over the world. 71 applications were received in this nomination in 2025. The winner was Daniil Listvin, editor-in-chief of the Russian-language online publication NOVA24. The places of the finalists were shared by Sorbon Okilshoev, a journalist from Tajikistan and Gael Amer, a journalist from the Lebanese edition of Funkush.

Special Heritage Award. Memory. Time from the partner of the 2025 Media Award, the organization for the promotion of international cooperation “Eurasia”, was presented to Alena Kotaeva, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Russian Word in South Ossetia”. The editorial team unites teachers of Russian studies in South Ossetia in the struggle for the culture of Russian speech and high literacy.
(C) https://t.me/honestpress