Josef Sedlak of Slovakia is this year’s winner of the IFAJ Star Prize for print journalism. The award was announced at the 2014 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) congress in Scotland. Sedlak’s article ”Food does not come from supermarket shelves” was published in Pravda – Slovak daily.
Ruben van Boekel and Riitta Mustonen (secretary general IFAJ). Photo by Chuck ZimmermanRuben van Boekel from the Netherlands, received second prize for the story “Largest pig farmer wants nothing more than peace and quiet”. It was published in Pig Business.
Ruben van Boekel and Riitta Mustonen (secretary general IFAJ). Photo by Chuck Zimmerman
“An impressive pile of 18 submissions from all over the world were being sent to the jury for the IFAJ Starprize. Impressive not only in terms of quantity, but most of all in terms of quality. Well written farm reports, in depth stories explaining complicated issues such as technology, scientific research, social-economic challenges, large scale farming in various parts of the world. To be short: a magnificent overview of the challenges farmers are facing”, says Rochus Kingsman, the chair of the jury, and adds: “The jury loved to dive into all these wonderful stories. The good thing: there was unanimity about the winner, which was this success story from Slovakia by Josef Sedlak.”
The Star Prize for print journalism is sponsored by John Deere. The winner receives a certificate, gold IFAJ pin and 1,000 Euro cash prize. The runner up receives a 500 Euro cash prize, certificate and a golden pin.
Judges were Rochus Kingsman, Head publishing at the livestock improvement company CRV, The Netherlands, Charl van Rooyen, assistant editor of Landbou, Pretoria, South Africa, and Mike Abram, PR & Communication manager at Bayer Crop Science, the United Kingdom. Competition coordinator was IFAJ Secretary General Riitta Mustonen.
Further information about the IFAJ Star Prize for print journalism is available by contacting Mustonen at riitta.mustonen@mt1.fi.
