On 23 October 2020, the 18th Forum of Mass Media in the North-West was held in Saint Petersburg. The venue for the business part of the form was the House of Journalists on Nevsky Prospekt, while the awards ceremony for the winners of the SeZaM 2020 journalism contest took place in the Hermitage Theatre. SeZaM is an acronym for “North-West Media”.
Due to the pandemic and associated restrictions, the Forum went ahead with a limited number of participants. Nevertheless, heads of regional and federal media came to Saint Petersburg, as well as the winners of the SeZaM 2020 journalism contest and representatives of the authorities and public organizations. For the remaining participants, the event was held in an online format, with its business section being broadcast on the TASS website. At the opening of the Forum in the House of Journalists, the guests were greeted by Liubov Sovershayeva, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-West Federal District.
The awards ceremony for the winners of the SeZaM 2020 journalism contest is traditionally the culminating moment of the Forum. This year 400 works were entered for the contest, and the jury noted a high level of competition in all ten categories.
The evening in the Hermitage Theatre began with a video address from Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage. The programme continued with a concert “Greetings to you from Karelia” prepared by the Republic of Karelia’s Centre for Folk Creativity and Cultural Initiatives. The folklore theatre Karelskaya Gornitsa, the Veps folk choir and an ensemble of kantele players all gave performances. After the concert, Dmitry Rodionov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Karelian government addressed the guests.
A summing up of the creative achievements of the year was preceded by greetings from Alexander Gutsan, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President in the North-West Federal District. During the awards ceremony, he presented a special prize for a journalistic action marking the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War – “210 steps. War” by the editorial board of the newspaper
Volna based in Zelenogradsk, Kaliningrad Region. The Large Public Jury of the SeZaM contest, headed by Mikhail Piotrovsky, gave its main award – the Prize of the Year for creative journalistic questing and deep exploration of a publicly significant subject to the Pskov State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company. Winners were also announced in the ten basic categories.
