The ceremony of presentation of the first national award for talented journalists was organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan and JSC “KazContent.” The prize fund of the National Award is 15 million tenge. About 860 media representatives took part in the contest. The expert jury selected the best works.

The winners of the award were defined by the well-known scientist Namazaly Omashev, state and public figure Myrzatai Zholdasbekov, dean of the faculty “Journalism and Political Science” of the ENU Kairat Sak, public figure Murat Abenov, political scientist Rassul Zhumaly, Chairman of the Council of the National Movement “Kazakhstan-2050” Mukhtar Mankeyev, Director of the Center for Political Analysis and Strategic Research Julia Kuchinskaya, Director of the RSE "Kogamdyk Kelisim", famous journalist Alexander Tarakov, head of the "Almaty" TV-channel Alibek Aldeney, the famous journalist Beissen Kuranbek, the head of the portal "Farmers.kz" Meiramkhan Zhapek, the literary critic Amangeldy Kenshilikuly.

Yerlan Omarov became the winner in the nomination "Best Photo"; in the nomination "Best Analytical Material" the winner became the journalist of the republican newspaper "Kazakhstanskaya Pravda" Valentina Fironova; in the nomination "Best Radio Program", the best recognized program is "An dombyra" of radio "Shalkar"; radio "Astana" is recognized as the best in the category "Best Regional Radio Station"; in the nomination "The Best Specialized Edition", the newspaper "Druzhnye Rebyata" won; the magazine "National Geographic Kazakhstan" was recognized as the best in the nomination "The Best Journal of the Year"; the journalist of the site "7kun.kz" Moldir Imanmadi was the best in the nomination "Debut in journalism"; Zhanbolat Aupbayev, correspondent of the newspaper "Egemen Kazakhstan" won the nomination "The best journalistic investigation"; correspondent of the republican newspaper "Capital" Victoria Govorkova won the nomination "Best Interview"; the South-Kazakhstan regional newspaper "Rating" won in the nomination "Best regional printed publication"; in the nomination "The best informative material about Kazakhstan", the winner was the correspondent of the republican newspaper "Egemen Kazakhstan" Duman Anash for the material "Altay - Austria"; Zarina Akhmatova, journalist of the site "Vlast.kz" won the nomination "Best international analytical material" for the article "Afghanistan is close"; in the nomination "Media breakthrough in Kaznet" the prize went to the youth website "Massaget.kz"; and also in this nomination a special prize was given to the “Informburo” news agency; the republican newspaper "Aikyn" won in the nomination "The best republican printed publication". Winners will receive a cash prize of KZT 1 million.

In the nomination "Best reportage" the winner became Olzhas Berkinbayev with his article “Kazakh museum in Barkol”. This successful work was written by the author during his trip to China. The result of the trip is 2,500 kilometers across China from Karamay to Barkol.

The Internet project "National Digital History of Kazakhstan" for a short time since October of last year has visited Hungary (Budapest, Szeged, Kartsak, Ullesh), China (Urumqi, Kumul, Karamay, Barkol), Russia (Omsk), Almaty (Ushkonyr), Uralsk, Kyzylorda, Shymkent, Aktau, drove thousands of kilometers, collected a lot of historical data. This is an indicator of cohesion and business acumen that has provided systematic work. The project was implemented due to the leadership of JSC “KazContent” and the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Only for historical content on the counter zero.kz the portal went up to 44th place, for a day the portal was visited by more than 40,000 users. In the next two months, the portal staff plans to visit 8 countries (Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran, China, and Mongolia), collect materials about the Kazakhs living there and present them to the reader.

On behalf of the “National Digital History” portal of JSC “KazContent” we sincerely congratulate our chief, Master of Sociology Olzhas Ualikhanovich Berkinbayev with a new victory. We wish you family happiness, clear days and creative flight. We wish the Internet project more interesting moments.

Translated by Raushan MAKHMETZHANOVA