Paula Justoviča receives the first Westphalia Peace Prize Scholarship for young journalists

Latvian Television News Service journalist Paula Justoviča has won the first competition for the Westphalia Peace Prize Scholarship for young journalists which was organised by the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence in collaboration with the German public media ‘Deutsche Welle’ training institute, ‘DW Akademie’. Out of seven proposals set forward in the competition, Paula Justoviča’s idea to analyse the aspects which influence voter activity in European Parliamentary elections in various European Union countries was recognised to be the best.

It was a decidely fierce competition, because several young journalists from seasoned and respected media outlets submitted proposals. Paula Justoviča’s idea completely corresponded to the vision of the competition considering the situation in Latvia, observed in a wider EU-wide context,” said Jānis Siksnis, Baltic Centre for Media Excellence’s acting executive director.

The source of financing for the scholarship is the Westphalia Peace Prize award to the Baltic countries which was accepted on behalf of Latvia by President Raimonds Vējonis in 2018.  The winner of the competition will be granted a scholarship of up to 3000 Euros for implementation of the project, as well as expert mentoring from ‘Deutsche Welle’. The competition will also take place for the following two years, with one Latvian journalist up to the age of 28 being granted a scholarship each year.